Left unsaid
by potionslover
Summary: Rose Weasley believes there isn't a chance in the world, Scorpius Malfoy the most popular guy at Hogwarts could fall for her. But is that true? Will the lack of candidness ruin their chances of being together.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: If I was JK rowling, Severus Snape would still be alive.**

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Rose Weasley was finding it hard to pay attention to her book. Every now and then she'd hear laughs and giggles and she couldn't resist glancing over to the other side, to see what was so bloody amusing. It was eight thirty at night and Rose had, as usual, stayed back in the library. She was used to being alone in there with no one to bother her, but this time found a distraction in the form of Scorpius Malfoy. Scorpius by himself wasn't quite distracting, but today he was flanked by an annoying study mate who went by the name of Armene Parkinson. Rose scowled as she heard her fake giggles and saw her playful hands wandering around Scorpius's collar as she was quite conspicuously trying to hit on him and Rose wondered whether he was indeed falling for it.

Half the girls in the school were chasing after the prodigal Malfoy heir and Rose thought it was only a matter of time before the tramp sitting across her would try and woo him into dating her. But Scorpius, Rose knew, was smarter than that. One of the things that had been puzzling everyone at school was how the most eligible bachelor of Hogwarts managed to elude every girl and remain single even after six years. Rose always thought it was because he was too busy winning the Quidditch cup, or topping every class he attended, or playing pranks with James and Albus.

Rose was disturbed from her musings by a particularly loud laugh from Armene. Armene, like a lot of girls, had some how talked Scorpius into tutoring her for her NEWTs. This was an annual ritual. Every year some pretty bimbo would sweet talk Scorpius into tutoring them, not because they needed any genuine coaching, but because they knew that was the closest they would get to a date.

Rose had never really worried herself with these girls, since most of them had a pea sprout for a brain. But this time she was fretting more than usual as Armene was without doubt 'the' most popular girl at Hogwarts. Not only was she unbelievably gorgeous, something even Rose had to admit she was, but quite intelligent as well. Furthermore she was a Slytherin and came from a long line of pureblood families. To make things worse, her family was well acquainted with the Malfoys. Apparently her mother and his father were once an item. Rose had often seen the two of them chatting away in the Hall and in between classes. She was without doubt the best contender amongst all to be the next Mrs Malfoy. And judging from Scorpius's coloring, she was getting quite close to it.

Rose squirmed in her chair as she saw Scorpius listening to Armene quite avidly. Rose couldn't deny that she garnered feelings for Scorpius ever since their fifth year. But she was proud she wasn't lusting after him like every other senseless girl at Hogwarts. No, it wasn't the usual things that appealed to all the other girls that had established her feelings for him. It wasn't him winning the Quidditch cup, or being the most popular guy at Hogwarts. It wasn't those melting grey eyes or that seductive smirk that played across his face. It wasnt the golden hair waving across his forehead, causing girls to look as though they'd been confunded. It wasn't his cheek that endeared him to all her friends including her Gryffindor cousins and brother. It wasn't even his intelligence that made him, along with Rose, a favorite of all the teachers.

No, Rose wasn't impressed by all that. It would take more than that to impress a Weasley and a tad bit more if it was a Granger Weasley. Rose was drawn to some of Scorpius's other characteristics which many of his rabid admirers failed to notice. The way he defended muggle borns against any incursion, which was most likely to come from his own house mates. The way he rallied for house elf welfare which most people thought was a joke, but which endeared him to Rose and genuinely impressed her mother, despite being a Malfoy. The readiness he showed in helping his enemies; something even her father did reluctantly but which reminded Rose of Uncle Harry. Most of these traits, people thought, detracted from Scorpius's super cool image. But these were the things about Scorpius that genuinely attracted Rose.

Rose was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't realize she had been staring at the blond haired boy in front of her for the past five minutes. But just as she was about to look away Scorpius looked up and caught her staring. Their eyes met for a second, and Rose found herself unable to look away. Scorpius soon smiled, causing a sinking sensation in Rose's stomach, and turned his attention back to Armene.

Great. Now he's gonna think, I'm one of those silly girls always staring at him for no reason. Way to go Rose, so much for making an impression, thought Rose to herself.

But was there any point in trying? No matter how hard she tried, she could never look as good as Armene or any of the other pretty girls at Hogwarts. It seemed like Rose had inherited the best of both her parents, in terms of personality traits. But when it came to looks, she inherited all the wrong parts. Lily was the one who had been passed on the Weasley beauty with the flaming red hair and flawless skin.

But Rose never felt she was that bad of a looker and some people found her bushy brown hair and freckled skin attractive in an odd sort of way, which included Fayne Thomas, whom she dated for a while. But compared to the best girls at Hogwarts, Rose never stood a chance, partly because she never tried that hard. She was so encompassed in her studies that she never had much time to straighten her hair or look after her diet.

Rose was suddenly disrupted by a voice calling her name and realized that Scorpius was standing in front of her with that same devastating smile that caused Rose's stomach to do a back flip. She smiled back nervously, wondering what it was this time.

"I was wondering whether you finished that essay on Charms. We had to turn it in next week," he said.

Scorpius always came by and talked to her when she was alone in the library, even when he had company. Rose spared a glance at Armene and saw that she had an inquisitive look on her face. Feeling slightly more confident Rose replied.

"I haven't finished it yet. I have a few more pages to go. I was busy with Potions. You know how I need to work extra hard on it, seeing as Professor Goldstein loves me to bits," she said sarcastically.

Scorpius chuckled and this made her feel at ease once more. Once they started talking she would always feel relaxed around him. She used to often wonder whether they could have been really close friends if it wasn't for their differing houses.

They talked for a while and it was only when Armene interrupted that Scorpius said bye and left to join her. After giving Rose a really sour look, Armene got back to her main objective and started playing with Scorpius's hair once more.

Rose was getting quite tired of Armene's antics and felt she couldn't take it any longer. She shut her books and made her way out of the library. She wasn't sure whether she was imagining it, but there was a look of longing in Scorpius's eyes as she got up to leave. But the next moment he quickly bent down to read his book, not even returning the smile she gave him. Feeling quite embarassed , Rose gathered her belongings and walked out of the library, smacking herself on her forehead, for even contemplating the possibility of Scorpius Malfoy being interested in her.

A pair of eyes watched the bushy brown hair disappear out of the library as Scorpius sighed inwardly at having missed his chance once again.

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**A/N: Next chapter will contain Scorpius thoughts during the whole time.**

**Hope you liked it . It would be really kind of you if you left a review.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Scorpius's POV**

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"What about this rune here? Does it always translate to fire or when mixed with this symbol here?"

"What?" asked Scorpius, snapping out a minute long reverie.

"I asked about this rune here. See?" said Armene, pointing to the big symbol in the middle of the book they were both huddled over.

"Oh... yes it translates into fire, even when used in conjunction with other symbols. One of the very few runes with that property," said Scorpius wearily.

"Are you tired?" said Armene shutting the book in front of them. "Coz if you are, we could...you know..take a break and relax a bit," said Armene with a dreamy look in her eyes.

Scorpius colored a bit as Armene's hands started reaching dangerously towards his collar. Scorpius quickly took her hands and placed it on the table and opened the book once again.

"No. I'm alright. Lets just finish this up quick before Madam Pince runs us out of the library," Seeing the disappointment on Armene's face Scorpius quickly added. "We don't want her to think we are doing anything more than studying here. You know how our parents keep trying to set each other up. They might just set the wedding date if they hear such a rumor,"

Armene gave an unusually high pitched laugh which made Scorpius cringe a little.

"That's so true. Although I have to admit, I won't complain if they did," replied Armene.

Scorpius merely smiled and looked down at his book. Scorpius was quite aware of Armene's interest in him and going out with her would be received with full approbation from both their families. Armene was everything a guy could want from a girl. Stunning, smart, intelligent, ambitious. She didn't belong to the pack of nitwits who regularly bothered Scorpius. Armene was also quite hard to please and only the top notch guys ever had any chance with her. Most of whom she would dump soon after, stating that she wasn't 'satisfied' with the relationships. So when Armene Parkinson had asked Scorpius Malfoy to tutor her and dropped anvil sized hints now and then about how she wanted him to ask her out, Scorpius was indeed quite flattered.

Armene started talking about her cousins at Beauxbattons while Scorpius paid attention to her features. He couldn't deny she was anything less than gorgeous. Her dark blue eyes matched her long blond hair and her skin was pale and flawless. Add to that a slender figure that almost made her look like an angel. Armene was also one of the top students in their year. After Scorpius, Rose and Willeby Rezene from Hufflepuff, it was Armene who scored the best O.W.L.s the previous year. Scorpius knew Armene didn't need any tutoring as she was faring quite well in Runes, but couldn't refuse her a favor just like all the other girls who had asked him to help them with their studies.

His parents on the other hand, were constantly trying to set them up on dates, in hopes that they would interest each other. Scorpius knew very well the objective of these nefarious tasks. His father and most of his blood prejudiced friends were trying really hard to make sure their pureblood line remained untainted. His father was afraid, one of these days Scorpius would turn up on his door step with a Muggleborn in his arms.

The same concerns were going through the minds of Armene's parents, and judging by Armene's behavior she had no objection with dating him. And for the most part, neither did Scorpius. There was only one thing that stopped them from being together and it was sitting in front of them buried amidst a pile of books and heaps of bushy brown hair.

Scorpius for a moment forgot where he was, as he saw Rose picking at her hair and biting her lips as she tried to solve a particularly nasty problem, a habit of her's which he thought was unbelievably adorable. Scorpius quickly turned his head back to Armene, lest she should suspect anything, and felt himself drowsing off to his thoughts as Armene went on about French cuisine.

He couldn't tell the exact moment he fell for Rose Weasley. He didn't even know that he had fallen for her, until his friends started pointing out the usual symptoms of love. Rose wasn't exactly the prettiest of girls. Most of his friends rated her a three on a scale of ten, a game they often played and one in which Armene always scored a nine and a half. But there was something different about Rose, which none of his friends could understand as they didn't get to spend time with her like he did since they were both prefects.

For one, he always felt relaxed around her. There was a constant feeling of Deja Vu with her, as though they had known each other quite well in a previous life. The only thing that stopped them from being close friends was their opposing houses, which made it almost impossible for them to spend more than a few minutes together. But Scorpius always figured it was friendship, and nothing more than that.

But then they were made prefects and that changed a lot of things as they were constantly pitted against each other, owing to their prefect duties. It had let him discover Rose more as a person. Being with her was like unraveling a box of surprises. With each day he found out something new about her, something that attracted him even more.

Her brains was something not even Scorpius could compete with and the competition between them excited him in a strange way. Rose was also quite different from the usual girls, who spend each and every second of their day doodling in front of the mirror, trying to cover up their zits or eating miniscule proportions of food just to maintain a slim figure. Rose didn't care about her looks and it was this casualness that rendered her so beautiful in his eyes, even more beautiful than the nine and half sitting right next to him.

Rose also showed concern where other people wouldn't. Rose was the daughter of the famous Hermione Granger, a champion of creature rights. Her work had been an inspiration for Scorpius to pick up where she left off and start rallying for elf rights. Rose was the only person in the school, apart from his best friend who merely agreed to join to shut him up, who worked by his side even though they weren't eliciting much interest among the students.

He had also learned from this little tryst that Rose never gave up so easily. There was a fiery determination in her which endeared her to Scorpius a lot. There were also traces of that infamous Weasley temper he'd heard of from his father. But every time Scorpius found himself at the end of one of her smoking tirades, he would pay more attention to her features. In those fits of anger her face would lit up, her brown eyes adding a glitter to it making her look even more beautiful.

Scorpius felt himself wanting to sneak a glance at Rose as he thought about her, and to his surprise saw her looking right at him in an almost dazed expression. He felt his heart leap as their eyes met and quickly passed her a smile. Not to seem too awkward he quickly turned back to Armene.

_Great. How is she supposed to know how you feel about her if you can't even muster the courage to look at her for more than a few seconds,_ he thought miserably.

Scorpius wondered how she felt about him. Those few times he tried to declare his feelings to her, he would find himself unable to say more than a few words, most of which would be incoherent, leaving her confused. Scorpius knew he could get any girl at Hogwarts and never had any trouble asking anyone out which was mainly due to the bets he placed with his friends, and Scorpius had won every single one of them as no girl could resist his aplomb. But Scorpius always wiggled out of those dates and managed to stay single all these years, mostly because he wasn't interested. Also, he barely had time, what with Quidditch and studies. But unbeknownst to others, there was also another reason as to why he didn't have a girlfriend. The fact that he couldn't manage the nerve to ask out the brown haired girl sitting in front of him.

Scorpius would stay back in the library in hopes of asking her out, but would always fail to do so as he would keep worrying of its consequences. He didn't want to lose her friendship in any way and he wondered if it would somehow make their acquaintance awkward. With any other girl Scorpius wouldn't have feared rejection, but with Rose Weasley anything was possible, as she was one of a kind.

Scorpius felt his body rising automatically as his mind ordered him to make his move.

"I'll be right back," he said to Armene as he left his chair and strode towards where Rose was seated.

Rose was sucking on her quill and staring at a page in her book, something she did when she was deep in thought.

_God she is beautiful, thought Scorpius. What is she dreaming about? If only I were a part of it,_ he wondered longingly.

"Hey Rose," he said, as she quickly snapped out of her thoughts and smiled weakly back at him.

"I was wondering whether you finished that essay on Charms. We had to turn it in next week," he said

"I haven't finished it yet. I have a few more pages to go. I was busy with Potions. You know how I need to work extra hard on it, seeing as Professor Goldstein loves me to bits," she said sarcastically.

Scorpius chuckled as he heard he reply. He always calmed down around her except when he had to ask her out. Most of the time he would forget what he had come to ask her and this time it seemed no different as he stood there talking to her for a while. It was only when Armene interrupted that he realized he missed his chance yet again. He bid goodbye and promised himself he would ask her when they left the library together. Scorpius quickly sat down beside Armene and drew his book close to him. Armene meanwhile started playing with his hair talking of how it had lost its texture and recommending conditioners.

Scorpius during this time looked towards Rose and to his disappointment saw that she was leaving. Scorpius couldn't hide the expression of longing from his face as he looked at Rose who meanwhile was looking at him skeptically. He felt embarrassed for giving himself away in this manner and quickly looked down to read his book. It was only after he had looked down that he realized Rose had just smiled at him, and to his horror realized that he hadn't returned it.

Way to go Scorpius. So much for making an impression, he thought as he heard Rose stomping out of the library.

Scorpius sighed as he watched her bushy brown hair disappear from view. He had lost his chance yet again.

Armene meanwhile had started playing with his collar again and Scorpius was starting to get quite annoyed with her antics.

He turned to look at Armene and spoke with an extremely serious expression.

"Look Armene. I know how you feel about me. But I want you to know that I'm not interested. I'm really sorry but I...I like someone else,"

Armene looked as though she had been slapped on the face. For a moment Scorpius was afraid she might hex him, but then her expression softened a little.

"Who is it?" she asked finally.

"Rose...Rose Weasley," Scorpius answered.

Armene burst out laughing as she said "Nice one Scorpius, nice one," continuing to laugh hysterically.

But on seeing Scorpius's face, she realized he wasn't joking.

"You can't be serious. You like that thing...that thing that just sat in front of us?" she said

Scorpius felt his blood boil as he jumped up, letting his chair fall down in the process.

"You will not refer to Rose as a 'thing' !" he shouted as Armene's smile faltered.

"She is the most beautiful, intelligent, sensible, honest person I've ever met. She may not be attractive by your standards or anybody elses, but to me she is everything and if you ask me a reason, I won't be able to give you one. But I don't need a reason to love Rose Weasley. There..I said it!" he finished.

Armene looked at him with a frightened expression. Feeling slightly guilty for having shouted at her he said. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to lose control like that. Its just that..."

But before he could finish his sentence, Madam Pince came crashing down on them like a vulture. After shouting at them for about ten minutes, she asked them to pack and leave. Scorpius gave a slightly apologetic look to Armene, which she clearly didn't respond to. Scorpius knew this was the last time they would be speaking to each other as Armene was famous for her ego and wasn't used to being rejected by boys.

If only I could have said those things in front of Rose he sighed as he packed away his books and quills.

Outside the library a girl was standing in the hallway, clutching her bag to her chest, tears streaming down her cheeks as she heard Scorpius Malfoy declaring his love for her.

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A/N: Hope you liked it. I was planning on only two chapters. But I couldn't leave their fate hanging on like that. So I've decided to write a third chapter as well to add a finishing touch.

It would be really nice of you if you could leave a review. It would certainly encourage me to write more. Please tell me what you thought of this chapter.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's note: Although I'd said this would be the last chapter , I got some really nifty plot points that has forced me to carry this a little further. I don't know how long this is going to be, but this is definitely not the last chapter. I've also therefore slightly changed the summary to better summarize this story.**

**Disclaimer:** **The following characters belong to J.K rowling. I'm just borrowing them for a while.**

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Rose Weasley couldn't move her feet. Neither could she move any other part of her body. She was standing outside the library paralyzed and inanimate and could hear her heart beating thunderously under the bag she was clinging on to her chest. As the emotional shock of what she had heard wore down, she was engulfed in a sea of affection for the boy sitting in the next room.

Rose in her rush to leave the library had left behind her diary. It was when she was making her way back that she heard Armenes' laughter echoing down the hall. As Rose approached near the door, she heard Armene saying something amidst a lot of laughter, which she couldn't quite make out. But the next few words were more than audible as Scorpius quite vociferously spouted out the things that led to her current state of shock.

Rose felt her eyes welling up as she recalled Scorpius's words. She is everything to me. How could I have missed it, Rose thought to her herself. How come I didn't spot any signs. All this time I was fretting over whether he would consider me likable and now I find out that he loves me. He loves me, she almost gasped out loud.

Rose's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by additional shouting, which this time came from Madam Pince. Rose started panicking as she heard her telling them off and asking them to leave the library. In a few moments she was going to come face to face with Scorpius and he would surely suspect that she'd heard everything he said. As much as she wanted to yell back at him that she felt the same way, she couldn't stop thinking of how awkward and embarrassing the situation would be, especially for Scorpius.

But before she could move from her spot, Armene jolted out of the library and stopped abruptly as she came face to face with Rose. There was a momentary sneer which was quickly replaced by an apathetic expression. She swiftly moved passed Rose without saying a word and strode towards her dormitory.

Scorpius had packed his stuff and was about to make his way out of the library when he saw a book lying on the table across, where Rose had been sitting. He went over to the table to check out the book and immediately recognized it as Rose's diary as he had often seen her scribbling in it during their classes. For a moment Scorpius was tempted to take a look at it and sneak a peek at some of Rose's inner secrets and see whether he had any place among them at all.

But he resisted his temptation as he didn't want to stray over her private matters and hoped he would one day perhaps hear it from her own lips. Scorpius took the diary in his hands, smiling at having got such a wonderful excuse to accost Rose. He was so busy plotting the details of their next meeting that he didn't see the bushy brown hair that was making its way into the library.

Both heads collided against each other as both parties simultaneously let out a bunch of swear words. Scorpius looked up to see who had walked into the library blindfolded and was met with a pair of glittering brown eyes staring right into his. Scorpius for a moment was lost for words but soon felt himself coloring up as he realized that Rose might have just heard everything he said, or shouted rather.

Rose on the other hand didn't know how to respond. The only way to make this situation the least embarrassing was to pretend that she hadn't heard anything at all and was oblivious to how he felt about her.

Mustering all the self confidence she could garner she said. "Hi. I...uhm..left my diary in here. I came to get it back," she said in an extremely forced expression that would have seemed artificial even to a troll.

"Yeah..I got it right here," Scorpius said pointing to her diary in his hand.

"Oh thanks," Rose said and for a few moments neither of them said anything and the air around them started getting increasingly awkward.

"I was at the end of the hallway when I heard Madam Pince shouting," Rose finally said. "Thats when I realized I forgot my diary behind, and came all the way back. What happened? Why was she yelling at you. I couldn't make out her words from that far," said Rose hoping he would fall for the lie.

Scorpius who until then had been holding in his breath let out a huge sigh of relief. She didn't hear any of the things I said, Scorpiu,"s thought, half relieved, half disappointed and he didn't know which feeling was more dominant.

"Well me and Armene sort of had an argument and our voices got a little loud which prompted Madam Pince," said Scorpius nervously.

"What did you guys argue about?" said Rose maintaining that same act of innocence.

Scorpius flushed slightly as he looked around for an answer. "It was nothing, something quite silly actually," he said

"Oh okay," Rose said, not wanting to press the matter further as she knew very well what the cause of their argument was.

They left the library and walked together, neither of them saying much. When she reached the stairs Rose turned to Scorpius to say goodbye. Rose secretly hoped he would pluck up the courage to ask her out. Scorpius on the other hand was in turn working the nerve to do so. When she realized he wasn't going to say anything she bid goodbye and marched upstairs.

"Rose,"

She was halfway through the stairs when she heard Scorpius call out her name. Heart beating slightly faster and taking a deep breath she turned around slowly.

"You forgot to take this back," Scorpius said holding out the diary that she had forgotten to take back from him.

"Oh," she said, blushing slightly as she went back down stairs to retrieve her diary.

"Thanks," she said, now starting to feel a little annoyed at his lack of audacity to ask her a simple question.

Scorpius looked like he was on the verge of saying something but merely said "Goodnight," and proceeded to his own dormitory. Rose sighed as she saw him scurrying off and wondered whether she should make the first move. Resolving to take the first step and ask Scorpius out the next day Rose climbed the stairs with a wide grin, something she normally didn't have on her face at the end of a long tiring day.  
"Maybe she is under an imperious curse," said Meryll in a barely audible whisper.

"Don't be ridiculous. Who would have the guts to perform an unforgivable at school, right under the nose of Professor McGonagall," replied Jade in an equally low voice.

"Maybe she fell off the stairs and hit her head somewhere and sustained extensive brain damage," said Paula trying to chip in her suggestion.

But Anna was not listening to any of their ramblings. Instead she was leaning over her window with her arms crossed peering at Rose, looking worried.

"What do you think Anna?" asked Jade curious to know her observation on the recent activities of her best friend.

Turning her attention away from Rose who was in front of the mirror, busy straightening her hair, she replied in a low whisper.

"I'm afraid someone might have fed her a love potion. She's displaying the usual symptoms associated with it,"

All four of them looked over at Rose once again, who mean while was completely oblivious to her friends discussion and stares.

Rose's behavior had undergone a tremendous change since last night, and none of her friends could make out the reason behind it . Rose was known to be extremely cranky when nearing the exams and not many people dared to talk to her lest they should tick off her temper. She seldom smiled, barely said a few words and was rarely seen, being constantly hidden amidst her pile of books. But now she was surprising everyone by completely neglecting her studies, smiling constantly and worst of all - trying on makeup.

Anna slowly crept behind Rose hoping she could get some answer from the victim herself.

"Rose?" asked Anna nervously.

"Yes Anna?" she replied straightening her hair and peering into the mirror every now and then.

"Did you eat or drink anything that anyone offered you yesterday apart from our meals at the Great Hall?" she asked apprehensively.

"No. Why do you ask?" she asked , turning around from the mirror and facing her best friend, slightly surprised by her questioning.

"Well..you've been acting sort of strange today, slightly different than your normal self and we were worried whether some one might have fed you a love potion," finished Anna looking worried.

Rose couldn't help but laugh out loud, which alarmed Anna and the rest of the others even more. Seeing the expression on their faces, Rose said "Look. I'm alright. No one has fed me a love potion. If I had taken a love potion, don't you think I would have been blabbering the guy's name more than anything else,"

"Thats true," said Anna. Not fully convinced she added. "But then why are you behaving so differently today? And don't lie and say that its nothing,"

Rose wondered how much of the truth she wanted to divulge to her friends. After all its not as if she and Scorpius were officially dating. For some strange reason she didn't even want to disclose the happenings of last night to Anna. She wanted to handle this herself. For once in her life she didn't want her emotional immaturity and temper to screw things up.

She searched around for an answer after which she said. "Well lets put it this way. I decided to go for a bit of a change,"

"Oh cut the crap Rose, you've definitely fallen for some one haven't you. Is it that hunk Clayton from Hufflepuff who was flirting with you during the last Slug Club party?" said an excited Jade.

Rose knew giving these girls any sort of clue would lead them to Scorpius Malfoy instantly. And as for them keeping it a secret, it was much safer to print it as an announcement in the Daily Prophet.

Rose knew the only way out of this was to pull her temper tantrum which always worked.

"Oh..so you think I can only dress up and act normally like you girls do, if I have the hots for someone?" said Rose in a raised voice. Acting angry came quite easy to Rose. After all, she was a Weasley.

"Oh no, we didn't mean it that way Rose," said Jade suddenly regretting what she had said.

"Oh I get it. Since I don't classify as 'normal' in your standards, I can't put on make up or do any of things that you do all the time. Well guess what. Contrary to your beliefs, I'm not a freak!" she spat and stomped out of the room, leaving her friends slightly frightened.

As Rose made her way out of the portrait hole she felt bad at having shouted at her friends. But she couldn't deny she enjoyed it.

Once Scorpius and I start dating, they are the first ones I'm going to tell anyway, she said to herself. Feeling quite pleasant and cheerful she made her way to the Slytherin dormitory.

She wasn't fully confident of what she was about to do. She had butterflies in her stomach and wondered whether she would manage to say more than a few words. The only thing that carried her foot forward was the assurance that if anything, he wouldn't say no.

As she reached the Slytherin dormitory, she realized she didn't know the password and would have to wait around till some one came by. Unfortunately for her, the next person to arrive was someone she had no pleasure in meeting at all. Armene had come from behind the stone gargoyle dangling in the arms of a muscular looking Slytherin. On seeing Rose, both of them wore startled expressions. It wasn't everyday that a blood traitor walked into their dormitory.

"What are you doing here, you filthy blood traitor" shouted the boy, who seemed much taller than Rose and struck a frightening figure.

"I..Uhm..Could you call Scorpius Malfoy outside," she said.

The boy raised an eyebrow and looked at Armene, who on the other hand remained impassive and didn't say anything

"I'm not one of your slavish Gryffindor friends you can order around. Come on Armene..lets go," he said pulling her by the arms.

"You go on. I'll be right with you," she said. Rose knew what was coming, but no matter what Armene was going to throw at her, she would stand up to it. Scorpius had chosen her over Armene and nothing she could say could intimidate her.

"Scorpius huh?" said Armene, a sneer forming around her lips.

"I thought I spoke quite clearly earlier," retorted Rose with a confidence she hadn't had until yesterday.

"How long...how long do you think it will last?" she asked with the sneer becoming more and more pronounced.

"That is none of your business," replied Rose, her temper rising for real this time.

"True. It is none of my business. But in case you ever ponder over that question. Take a look at your reflection and if that doesn't answer your question, take a look at both your families. That would give you a general idea," said Armene and strode past her.

Rose couldn't think clearly for a few moments as Armene's words sunk in. Her remark about her beauty didn't offend her like before as Scorpius had made it quite clear whom he considered more beautiful out of the two. But her second remark about their families was something she had forgotten to consider in her haste to be with Scorpius.

A Malfoy and a Weasley. How could she have been so foolish. How many times had her father admonished her about the Malfoys and warned her against befriending him. Although mom wouldn't mind a friendship with Scorpius, she wasn't sure she would take the news of her dating Scorpius that well.

But what about 'his' family. There was no way in the world they would accept someone like her. Not only was she the daughter of a blood traitor and a Muggleborn but her father was probably considered one of their worst enemies. Although Rose's parents would make a fuss initially, especially her father, they would eventually accept any decision of hers as long as she was happy. But Scorpius's case wasn't the same.

She had heard from some of her classmates that Scorpius had a hard time putting up with his parents and their beliefs. And that they were unusually strict when it came to their pureblood prejudices. Even Scorpius's best friend Neime Zabini who was a HalfBlood wasn't allowed into their Manor as he wasn't considered pure enough. Rose snorted as she wondered what kind of reception she' would receive from his parents and how much strife this relationship was going to cause.

Won't I be aggravating the rift between him and his family further? she thought absentmindedly. Was this what I wanted for him?

Rose didn't know how long she had been standing their resigned to her thoughts when the gargoyle shifted once more and out emerged Scorpius and his friend Zabini. Rose couldn't find any words to say immediately. Scorpius on the other hand was equally surprised at seeing her in front of their dormitory.

"Rose. What...what are you doing here?" he asked slightly out of breath.

Rose was lost for words. She had to think of something quickly and spouted out the first thing that came to her mind.

"I..Uhm..came to see Zabini actually," she said turning to the dark skinned boy standing next to Scorpius.

Zabini was quite taken aback by this and replied. "Me? What is it?" he asked

"Well I thought we could talk more privately," she said instinctively, following her brain's advice.

Scorpius eyebrows arched upwards into his forehead as he eyed them both.

"I'll leave you two alone then," he said a bit sullenly.

"Thanks," she said, without looking at Scorpius as she didn't want to see the disappointment on his face which would make her feel even more guilty.

Scorpius left and walked past them and disappeared around the corner.

"So..what is it? You better make it quick Weasley. I don't have enough time to play around," said Zabini, in a rough voice that made her jump a little.

Rose had done it again. She had once again managed to screw things up due to her lack of experience in such matters. She was standing across a boy who was expecting her to say something and her mind was as blank as an empty blackboard.

"Whatever it is, spit it out Weasley!" he exclaimed.

On hearing this her mouth pre-empted her senses and took over, bursting out the next few words.

"I-was-wondering-whether-you-would-like-to-hang-out-with-me-this-coming-weekend-at-Hogsmeade," she said at a stretch, replaying the words that she had rehearsed for Scorpius.

Rose heard her words leaving her mouth as though hearing it from a stranger.

Zabini on the other hand looked shocked and had his mouth open, which didn't seem like it was about to close anytime soon.

Rose, although embarrassed by what she said, knew this was a safe bet since Zabini clearly detested her. They had spend a few months together in each other's company when they both helped Scorpius with his elf rights campaign, something she knew he only joined to stop Scorpius's constant pestering. But he never spoke to her and remained indifferent to her otherwise. He clearly hated her and she patiently waited for him to reject her proposal and throw her a filthy comment, so that she could leave and get back to her studying.

"Sure..I'd love to," he said finally.

"Oh thats okay I don't min...You what?" she exclaimed, praying she'd heard him wrong.

"I said I'll go with you," he said with a smile, which Rose had to admit was kinda sexy and had the circumstances not been so grave, would have found herself admiring.

"But I'm a blood traitor and you always seemed to hate me and..." Rose had never expected Neime Zabini, one of the hottest guys at Hogwarts to ever say yes to her.

He kept smiling and finally came close enough for her to see the shades of his eyes more clearly.

"I've always liked you. I'm just not good at displaying my affections more openly," he said.

"Then how come you never asked me out before?" she asked still not being able to believe what she just heard.

"Well obviously I couldn't ask you out with Sco..". He quickly caught himself before finishing his sentence.

Rose knew exactly what he was about to say. Zabini was Scorpius's best friend and he must surely know how he felt about her and for a moment felt a slight respect towards Zabini for withholding his interest for the sake of his friend.

"I was just waiting for the right moment," he corrected himself.

"Oh alright then. Well I'll..I'll see you this Saturday," she said, finally relieved to leave the place, her mind shaken by what she'd just heard.

"Sure," said Zabini with a slight smirk that seemed to attract Rose more and more by the minute.

As she turned around to leave, she suddenly remembered why she had put herself into this whole mess in the first place and her heart sank as she thought of a future with Scorpius which seemed desultory and hopeless.

As she sighed and made her way back to the stairs, Scorpius Malfoy stood around the corner behind the statues, with his fists clenched and mouth open, staring down at the floor as he comprehended what he had heard pass in front of him.  
Author's Note: Hope you liked it. This new character is a product of my new Ginny/Zabini obsession. Lol. Neime Zabini is clearly the son of Blaise Zabini who in my story went off and married a Half Blood.

Please do tell me what you thought of this chapter. I get the encouragement to write further because of your reviews. Thanks so much for reading. And thanks so much to all those who reviewed.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's note: Sorry I took so long to update . I was preparing for a really important exam. Its over now so I promise I'll make the updates quicker.**

**To be honest. I'm not satisfied with this chapter. There's something wrong with it that I can't quite put my finger on.**

**Disclaimer: I'm not JK Rowling. JK Rowling doesn't live in India. **

* * *

"Listen if you have any problems at all, I'll drop it. Are you absolutely sure you don't mind?" asked the dark skinned boy leaning forward in his arm chair , his dark blue eyes clearly reflecting concern. 

"If you ask me that one more time, I swear I'll hex you." replied Scorpius not taking his eyes off the book he'd pretended to be reading, irked by having to answer the question for the hundredth time.

Zabini hadn't wasted any time in relaying to Scorpius what had passed between him and Rose. Scorpius had listened to it pretending as though the whole thing was a surprise to him. Even though he had witnessed the entire conversation first hand, he couldn't admit to it considering what he did was wrong by all standards. After all best friends didn't spy on each other's conversations.

After Rose left, Scorpius quite jaded had vented out his steam by kicking the statue behind which he was hiding. Hopping around, wincing in pain he swore and cursed himself for not having asked her out earlier. A part of him appeased his guilt by blaming Neime._ He shouldn't have said yes_, he had thought to himself. Especially when fully aware of how he felt about Rose.

But once the pain in his foot had subsided, he started calming down and thinking more rationally and realized that Neime was quite helpless after all. It wasn't as though Rose was his personal property. He had thought himself so sublime that he didn't stop to consider the possibility of Rose fancying someone other than him. And he was even more of a fool to disregard Neime as he was probably one of the most good looking guys at Hogwarts, with girls flocking around him incessantly. But Scorpius was sure it wasn't Neime's looks she had fallen for. Rose was much above that. _She must have seen something in him that I didn't have_ he thought miserably.

But Scorpius still felt a grudging respect for Neime on hearing how he'd abjured his interests for the sake of their friendship. He looked over from his book at Zabini who was carefully studying his expression as though searching for the tiniest hint of doubt or disappointment at his actions.

"Look. For the last time, I don't mind you going out with her," said Scorpius, wearily. "I had feelings for her but obviously she's chosen you. I'll have to accept that and move on with my life. Relax Neime, its not like its the end of the world or anything," said Scorpius forcing a smile.

Neime was still looking distressed. Scorpius knew Neime was aware of how hurt he was. After all, he had often divulged his inner most feelings to him. He was probably the closest person in his life, almost like a sibling. Not being able to take his scrutiny any more he said "How come you said yes? I thought you didn't like Rose. I've never once seen you talk to her." directing the questions at Neime instead.

It was now Neime's turn to be uncomfortable by the questioning as he squirmed in his chair looking for an answer.

"Well I didn't. But then once we started working together on that whole elf rights thing, I sort of found her...you know..interesting,"

Scorpius raised an eyebrow at the boy in front of him who was used to dating the best of Hogwarts primarily for their looks and couldn't believe he was willing to look beyond the hair and makeup or in Rose's case lack thereof.

Seeing Scorpius's expression he quickly added. "Not that I fancy her or anything. I just didn't think it would have been polite to turn her down like that. It'll probably just last one date. She's all your's after that. You can ask her out at your leisure." said Neime with a smile that was more than familiar to Scorpius as he had been wearing the same expression for the last few minutes.

He couldn't help feel a surging affection for Neime. He remembered quite clearly his words to Rose about how he had always liked her and knew the boy in front of him was probably going to ditch Rose after one date no matter how strongly he felt about her.

Neime patted Scorpius on the back and took off, leaving Scorpius seated in his chair looking into the depths of the fire, remembering Rose's conversation with Neime. Scorpius closed his eyes and his mind wandered into a dream, the only place he thought he could ever get together with Rose.

* * *

"Murder me Anna...murder me," said Rose lying back on her bed, looking at the top of her four poster, wishing the world would collapse around her. 

"I still don't understand why you chose to hide all this from me in the first place," said Anna seated on the edge of her bed.

"I don't know. I thought maybe I could handle it myself for once," answered Rose keeping her eyes closed. "And how was I supposed to know he'd say yes. That boy would date a mannequin as long as it looked good. He's Neime Zabini for Merlin's sake." Rose said, sitting up straight.

Anna couldn't help herself from smiling as she found this whole ordeal nothing less than amusing.

"Anna could you please stop smiling. I know I'm an idiot and I made a complete fool of myself. Now could you please help me out of this,"

Anna raised an eyebrow and the expression on her face was pretty descriptive in suggesting that perhaps Rose's apology wasn't complete enough.

"Alright, alright I'm sorry I hid the whole thing from you. And I should have perhaps taken your advice before running off to Scorpius," said Rose pleadingly.

"That's exactly what I was looking for." said Anna cheerfully hopping on to her bed facing Rose who sat with her legs crossed.

"First of all lets lay down all the facts. Scorpius clearly likes you, right?"

"Right," said Rose, smiling despite herself.

"And you feel the same way about him," Upon Rose's nodding Anna continued "But you don't want to date Scorpius because you're afraid it might create rifts in both your families, along with a whole lot of strife and you're a wimp who is too cowardly to face it."

"Hey..." cried Rose in protest but Anna kept speaking. "Now, you accidentally asked Neime out, which by what you've explained to me is a situation, not even a troll would have landed itself in. But nevertheless, to your dismay and a lot of other girl's, he agreed to out with you."

While listening to Anna, Rose realized just how stupid the whole thing sounded, causing her to feel even more like a fool.

"So whats the problem?" finished Anna.

Rose raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean whats the problem. Help me wiggle out of this date." replied Rose.

"Why?" asked Anna plainly and Anna's attitude was starting to annoy Rose, seeing as she was taking it quite lightly. But before Rose could reply Anna went on.

"You clearly admitted to not wanting to go out with Scorpius for reasons which sounds more like the plot of a cheesy muggle movie. If you don't want to date Scorpius then why not move on and date other guys, especially someone who has admitted he likes you. Unless you find him too revolting..." said Anna causing Rose to reply instinctively.

"I don't find Neime revolting. How could I?. I admit I find him kinda attractive. Also he's not that bad of a person. He was really helpful during that whole elf rights thing. Its just that he never showed any interest in me. But it just feels wrong. Think of what it would do to Scorpius. They're best friends for Merlin's sake." Rose said looking down, dejected.

Anna felt sorry for Rose as she looked down at her. She knew Rose was merely looking out for Scorpius. Moving closer to Rose she said.

"Look, before you interrupt me, let me tell you what I think. You clearly care a lot about Scorpius and he feels the same way, perhaps even stronger . Don't let your families stand in the way. Your family, no matter what they think of the Malfoys will always agree with the decisions you make, as long as you're happy,"

"And as for his family, I heard from Melanie Armstrong that Scorpius is having a lot of arguments with his father and he's planning on moving out of his house once he graduates and finds a job. You won't be adding any additional rift between them. Their relationship was too strained from the beginning. Scorpius doesn't agree with the pureblood principles of his family. He's Draco Malfoy's son, not Draco Malfoy,"

Rose listened to her quite intently, thinking about what she said.

"The only thing you'd be doing by being in a relationship with him, would be to make him happy. So stop being an idiot and go tell him how you feel about him. And if you see that tramp Parkinson along the way, send her one of your famous batbogey hexes. Your Aunt Ginny would be very proud," finished Anna exultantly.

Rose smiled and realized everything she said made sense except for the latest trouble she had landed herself in.

"Wait, what about Zabini? What do I do with him?" asked Rose, getting tense once again.

"Well, there's only one way out of that. You're gonna have to break up with him after your first date. Better still, tell him you never intended to ask him out in the first place and it was all a ploy to get Scorpius jealous,"

"But that's just cruel. It'll break his heart," said Rose alarmed at the thought of such a wily plan.

"Everything is fair in love and war," said Anna pompously. "You got yourself into this mess, now you'll have to get yourself out of it. Oh look at the time. I have to go meet Edward. He's waiting for me in the Great Hall." said Anna leaving Rose alone in her dormitory.

Rose fell back on her bed and started wondering what a mess she had got herself into and wondering how many people she will end up hurting due to her immaturity. She closed her eyes and felt sorry for Neime, praying for a way out of this.

* * *

As Neime got into his dormitory he realized he had landed himself in a complete mess. _Why did you have to say yes to her_, he thought woefully. _Didn't you know quite well she was Scorpius's girl. Didn't you tell yourself a million times she was off limits_, he thought as he smacked himself on the head. 

As he fell back on his bed, he couldn't help but smile at the thought of going out, for the first time, with a girl whom he genuinely liked. Neime was in the beginning revolted by Rose with her bushy brown hair and overbearing bossy attitude. He couldn't quite understand what it was that Scorpius saw in her.

But then he had reluctantly joined up for that ridiculous elf rights campaign and to his horror realized he would be working along side Rose Weasley of all people. But it was during those two months in which they worked together that he started seeing the side of Rose that he'd often heard Scorpius brag about. Neime kept growing more and more attracted to her, despite his reservations.

But all along he kept telling himself that Rose was Scorpius's girl. He was almost saturated with Scorpius and his tales of Rose Weasley, not a day going by when he didn't mention her. He therefore restrained himself from making any advances towards Rose. As a result he refused to talk to her when meeting elsewhere, stayed indifferent to her otherwise and blocked her out of his mind as much as he could.

But today when she walked up to him and asked him out point blank, all thoughts were erased from his mind as he said yes instinctively. He was taken off guard by her interest in him which he had never suspected himself. It was only after she left that the realization of what he'd done dawned upon him. He kept remembering how devastated Scorpius looked this evening no matter how much he tried to hide it, making him feel even more guilty.

Which was why he had reached the decision to end things with Rose after their first date so that Scorpius could ask her out again. But he realized he couldn't dump Rose as he didn't want to hurt her. Also it would seem suspicious, as he had himself admitted to liking her for a while.

Neime put his hands on his face and sighed, wondering how in the name of Merlin was he going to crawl out of this mess. No matter what he chose to do, it was inevitable that either Rose or Scorpius would end up getting hurt.

* * *

Scorpius woke up from his dream abruptly and realized that he was alone in the common room. He couldn't help himself from going over what Neime said. Scorpius liked Rose and wanted what was best for her and Neime was his best friend. _If they were happy together why should I be the bad guy_, he thought to himself. He wasn't going to ruin the happiness of the only two people in the world whom he cared for and resolved to not let himself stand in the way of their relationship in case it evolved into anything deep. 

He got up from his chair and made his way to his dormitory to fetch his broom. He hoped a nice round through the skies would help shake off some of these pestering thoughts

Armene watched from a corner as Scorpius left the room with his broom in his hand. Ever since Scorpius rejected her, she had resolved to get back at him. She was Armene Parkinson and no one had the right to ditch her. She willed herself to think of something that would break the delicate balance hanging between these three, that was on the brink of a break down, and make Scorpius Malfoy pay for insulting her and Rose Weasley pay for being the cause of it.

* * *

**Author's note: It would mean a lot to me if you left a review. Constructive criticism is more than welcome, but no flaming please.  
**


	5. Chapter 5

_**Author's note: Sorry guys I didn't update sooner. Suffered from a serious bout of writer's block. But heres the new chapter. Hope you like it .**_

_**Disclaimer: I'm not JK Rowling. Please don't sue me.**_

* * *

Rose was panicking and she had good reason to. She was supposed to meet Neime Zabini in a couple of hours at the entrance of the castle. Rose kept looking at her watch and then towards the portrait hole to see whether Anna had returned from her date with Edward. She needed to speak with her, make sure she listened to every word she spoke before she went off on a date with Neime. This time she was going to do it right, with someone else's help ofcourse. 

"Where have you been? I have been worried sick here. Or did you forget all about your best friend in the middle of your little romance." Rose said as soon as the portrait hole opened to show a sliver of Anna's red coat.

"Whoa...let me breathe Rose." said Anna panting as she got inside the common room before sitting down on the armchair.

"Two hours! I am supposed to meet Mr Neime bloody Zabini in two hours." cried Rose as she started strutting around the room biting her fingernails which had lost half its length since she asked Neime out.

"Relax dear. How many times do we have to go over the details. Behave quite civil towards him through out the date , and by civil I don't mean advertising your Weasley temper, but be nice and cordial. Towards the end you come clean. Tell him you were hoping to make Scorpius jealous."

"What if he gets angry? What if he blows his steam off on me. Have you seen how tall and muscular he is?" asked Rose, her hair now bushier than ever, looking as though a forest was growing on her head.

"Oh yes I have." said Anna naughtily, winking at Rose as she took off her coat.

"Anna.." started Rose irritatedly.

"Alright, alright. Look, this is where you have to be smart. Make sure you are nice to him. Sweet talk to him as much as you can. Or in other words 'suck up to him'. And when you finally tell him the truth, apologize like crazy. Snivel at his feet and beg for his forgiveness."

"Suck up to him and snivel at his feet." repeated Rose frantically

"I doubt whether you would need to do that anyway." continued Anna ."Zabini and Scorpius are like brothers and he knows how Scorpius feels about you. He probably won't mind. And even if he did, I don't think he'd ever be harsh on his best mate's girl."

This calmed Rose a little. She knew Neime would restrain his anger at her especially since she was Scorpius's love interest. But Rose was more worried about whether it would hurt him. He had after all admitted to having liked her for a while.

Anna clearly didn't understand what it was like to have one's heart broken. But Rose knew more than well how it felt like when someone you liked walked off with another person. A feeling she had gone through all those times she saw Scorpius with Armene and heard rumors that they were going out together.

"Alright, next we dress you up for your date." said Anna with a wicked smile.

"Hey wait." cried Rose in protest but Anna was already pulling Rose by the elbow, up into their dorm.

Once they got into their room Rose said "But I thought this wasn't a real date." horrified at the thought of what Anna was planning to do with her.

"Exactly. Which is why dressing up in your usual wardrobe would give him a feeling of being used. He'd think you didn't even bother spending time to look good for this one short date. Like it meant nothing to you."

"But it does mean nothing to me." cried Rose failing to understand what Anna was aiming at.

"But you shouldn't give him that feeling." said Anna wearily, annoyed at how slow Rose was at grasping such things.

"Pretend as though you are enjoying yourself. Acting indifferent and showing no interest whatsoever would make him feel insulted. The last thing you would want to do to someone you're about to dump." said Anna and went into her drawer by the bed from which she gathered a handful of cosmetic products.

"Besides, I love makeovers." said Anna with a wink, laying them all down on the dressing table.

"Fine." Rose said giving up and looking warily at all the stuff lined up in front of her.

As Anna started applying the Sleekeazy's potion on her hair, Rose thought of Scorpius and hoped she didn't bump into him today. She would have to settle things with Neime first, only after which she could tell Scorpius how she felt about him.

* * *

_Green or Blue?_

_Blue makes you look fat._

_But its brings out the color of my eyes more._

_But green is Rose's favorite color._

Neime Zabini had been going through this inner monologue for the last two hours and still couldn't come up with a decision on what to wear.

He had initially not wanted to care too much about looking good as he was planning on breaking up with Rose the next day on the pretense of 'not wanting to commit to anything'. He had thought over many excuses and this one seemed to fit the best and going by his reputation, Rose would have seen it coming anyway.

But he somehow couldn't help getting nervous and kept rummaging through his wardrobe trying to put on his best shirt. This date was in fact quite special to him, even if it was probably the last one they'll ever have together. He finally decided on the green shirt since it was Rose's favorite color, something Scorpius had advised him on, earlier in the day.

Scorpius' attitude, after last night's depression, seemed to have gone through a complete turnover as he seemed unusually cheerful. He even gave Neime a few pointers on Rose's preferences. And before Neime could make either head's or tail's of this new development, he had left for the library stating the excuse of preparing for the exams which were more than two months away.

_Don't worry mate. Just this one date. She's all yours after that_, he had thought to himself as he saw Scorpius's deplorable pale figure retreating out of the dormitory.

Neime looked into the mirror, adjusted his hair, and after being satisfied with what he saw, gave a wink and a nod to himself and left the room with a bouquet of Rose's in his hand.

* * *

"Rose...Rose...Are you in there?..I've been looking all over for...Whoa!!" exclaimed Lily as she stopped dead on her tracks, looking into the reflection of very pretty looking girl. 

Rose turned around from the mirror and flushed the same shade as her blush as she said "In case you're wondering. She put me up to this." pointing accusatorily towards Anna who scowled and mumbled something about being ungrateful.

"Rose you look really pretty. Good job Anna." said Lily giving a thumbs up to Anna before continuing..

"So Scorpius finally asked you out? I can't imagine you doing this to yourself for anyone else." she said excitedly.

Rose looked towards Anna wondering what to say when Anna replied. "No, she's going out with Neime."

Lily's eyes widened as she took in this piece of news. "Neime? As in Neime Zabini. Oh my god Rose how in the name of Merlin's most dirty underwear did you bag that hottie!" cried Lily in excitement.

"Lily. Would you stop being so excited. I didn't bag him okay? I asked him out and he said yes. As simple as that." Rose said putting on her lilac skirt and matching blouse.

"Not only that." Anna chipped in "He said he's had a crush on her for a while."

"Ooh .Wait till James and Albus find out. They hate Zabini." Lily said while chuckling.

"They don't hate Zabini. They just have their silly arguments over Quidditch. Boys." replied Rose shaking her head.

"Rose, you might want to hurry up." said Anna, looking over at the clock.

Rose started panicking as she put on her slippers. She took a few deep breaths and looked one final time into the mirror and still couldn't believe what she was seeing. The Sleakeazy potion always worked wonders on her hair but it was worth too much trouble. And Anna had done well with the makeup making sure she hadn't gone overboard with it. The end result was that Rose looked casual, yet very pretty.

All three girls got out of the dorm and walked into the common room where they met with Hugo whose eyebrow had taken its usual position on his forehead whenever Rose went out on a date.

"Going on a date, I presume?" asked Hugo skeptically.

"You presume right." said Rose who was fed up with his over protective nature despite being her younger brother.

"And could I know who the lucky gentleman is." he questioned, maintaining the fake politeness.

"Neime Zabini." said Rose which led to a collective gasp from some of the nearby girls. But it was nothing compared to the reaction from Hugo whose face had switched from the fake smile to pure shock..

"What? You're going out with Zabini. Are you out of your mind Rose?" cried Hugo, at which point Anna and Lily decided to step back. It was safer to play with Hagrid's pets than interfere in the Weasley family arguments.

"No. The last time I checked, my mind was still functioning properly." replied Rose flaring up.

"Rose. Zabini's a good for nothing flirt who treats girls like crap. Do you know how many girls he goes out with every week. And if you heard some of the stories that are going on around about Sally Smith and him. And worst of all, he's a Slytherin."

"Like father like son. You sound just like Dad. Being a Slytherin doesn't make him a a Death Eater or anything. And I don't want to hear another word out of you Hugo. I'm old enough to decide whom I date. Thank you very much." spat Rose and walked off, Anna and Lily following her cautiously.

"Well don't come crying to me when you get in trouble." shouted Hugo from behind as the three girls clambered out of the portrait hole.

Just when Anna and Lily thought Rose was calming down, they met with James and Albus, the latter of whom didn't wait before bursting out.

"Is it true Rose? I just heard from Scorpius. Is it true you're going out with Zabini."

"Oh not again." Rose said wearily.

"Well is it?" piped in James.

"Yes I am." she replied, gulping at the thought of Scorpius and wondering how difficult it must have been for him to have told her cousins of her date with his best friend.

"Please tell me this is a joke. Coz I can't think of our Rose going out with a scum like Zabini" remarked James.

"And what if it isn't." answered Rose crossing her hands in her arms.

"Rose. He's Neime Zabini for goodness sake." replied Albus trying to reason with Rose.

"Funny how I recall someone saying that he was an okay bloke." said Rose turning to James.

"Well he is an okay bloke with us guys. I mean Scorpius wouldn't be friends with him if he wasn't." James said in his defense. "But Rose, he's one of biggest flirts in this school. You're too good for him. You don't need to date someone like that." finished James.

"I'm going to say the same thing I said to Hugo. I'm old enough to make my own decisions. So back off before I cast a bat bogey hex on both of you." spat Rose and stomped off down the stairs.

Lily shrugged and gave an apologetic look to both her brothers who were standing slightly alarmed before following Anna and Rose down the stairs.

* * *

Neime was waiting at the entrance hall having given up looking for Scorpius everywhere. He had first gone over to the library where Scorpius said he would be, but couldn't find him there. He then checked the Quidditch grounds and everywhere else, but to no avail. 

He wanted to assure him once more that he wasn't planning on taking this anywhere but to no luck. He knew Scorpius had on purpose wandered off somewhere wanting to be alone, something he did when he was upset.

Sighing, Neime looked over at the stairs hoping this date would turn out to be a disaster, making his decision easier for him. He secretly hoped Rose would dress up funny, overdoing her makeup or something, so that he would be repulsed by her looks. But he knew that would never happen, since he liked Rose for what she was and not how she looked. She could turn up dressed like his grandmother and have warts all over her face and he would still like her just as much.

But before he could finish thinking of the various possibilities that would result in a disastrous date, his eyes fell upon someone coming down the stairs. He had to blink twice to recognize the pretty girl walking towards him and when he did, realized that his worst nightmare had come true.

When Rose Weasley finally came up in front of him and smiled, all promises he had made himself vanished from his mind and he selfishly thought he wouldn't give her up for anything in the world.

* * *

_**Author's note: Hope you liked it. Even if you didn't please do tell me so. I could improve my writing based on your suggestions. But please don't leave without reviewing.**_


	6. Chapter 6

**Author: I'm updating earlier than usual, becoz one of my friends threatened to kill me if I didn't...lol. Once again thank you for your reviews. And I hope I don't enrage any of you shippers with this chapter. :) Before I begin let me state once again that THIS IS A ROSE/SCORPIUS STORY TILL THE END. But with a few struggles along the way. Read and enjoy. **

**Disclaimer: Read the following and you'll realize I couldn't possibly be JK Rowling. **

* * *

Neime was standing dumbfounded and couldn't utter a single word. It took a distinct 'Ahem' from Rose for him to come back to his senses and snap out of his stupor. He said an awkward "Hi" trying to sound casual, but achieving the opposite result. 

"You look...really..uhm..." stammered Neime unable to finish his sentence.

Rose looked at him expectantly hoping to hear a compliment , which coming from Zabini was a treat in itself.

"Different." finished Neime.

"Oh." she said trying real hard to hide her disappointment. "Well...thanks." she added and regretted it as soon she said it. She didn't even know if he had intended it as a compliment.

"So lets get moving then. Oh and these are for you." he said holding out the bouquet of Roses.

Rose couldn't suppress a smile as she took the flowers. After all she'd seen him employ this tactic with a gazillion girls.

They started walking towards the grounds in silence gathering envious looks from the group of surrounding girls.

_Different? Different? _Neime thought shaking his head. He had dated dozens of girls, spend hours cuddled with them, used every complimentary word known to mankind and when it really mattered, he blew it.

_Ofcourse. I could use all the Sleakeazy potion in the world, Anna could dip me in makeup day and night, but I'd still be Rose bloody Weasley. What were you expecting him to call you Rose 'A freaking princess'? _

But Rose didn't know why she was getting so upset. After all this wasn't a real date.

When they finally reached Hogsmeade they both stopped walking and turned to each other with the same thoughts on their minds

"So.." Neime spoke first. "Where do you suggest we go." he asked.

Rose had no idea where she wanted to be taken but she did know she did't want to stray anywhere near Madam puddifoots tea shop, the inferno of hormonal couples.

"What about the three broomsticks? "she said gladly, knowing fully well it was the least romantic place for a date.

"Okay then. Lets head on." he replied trying to sound cheerful. He might have been disappointed with her eagerness in suggesting a place like the three broomsticks, but upon thinking, realized that it was perfect. He didn't want to fall for this girl anymore than he already had. And the three broomstick with its clamorous crowd was more than enough to tire any one of a date.

Once they got into the pub they made their way through the noisy crowd and found a table for themselves. Neime immediately went over to the counter to get them some drinks while Rose sat down uncomfortably, and took off her coat, praying none of her friends were here to witness this mock date.

Neime soon returned with two butterbeers and placed them on the table, before sitting down. Rose meanwhile kept playing Anna's words in her head like a broken record. _Suck up to him and snivel at his feet. Suck up to him and snivel at his feet._

They both drank in silence for a while and when the reticence started getting awkward both of them injected in at the same moment.

"The last match with Ravenclaw..." "Your shirt looks really..."

Both of them flushed slightly before Neime continued "I'm sorry. Go ahead, what were you going to say."

"I said your shirt looks really good. Its just that, green's my favorite color." she said smiling.

"Yeah I know. Scorpius told me." he replied smoothly.

This had been his agenda for the date. Bring up Scorpius's name into their conversations as much as possible, being as panegyric as he could.

"He did?" Rose asked, taken aback by the sudden mention of Scorpius. "I didn't know he knew that." she added trying to seem not so astonished at this piece of information.

"Yeah he talks a lot about you, you know." he said while looking down.

Rose didn't understand why Neime was telling her all this. She was starting to get worried about what his reaction would be when she finally told him the truth. She imagined a scene similar to one of those cheesy Muggle soaps. _My best friend? You traitor. How could you?_

Rose gulped and gripped her wand tighter just incase and since she couldn't think of anything to say, decided to pursue the topic further.

"You two are neighbors aren't you?" she said.

"Oh yes. We live next to each other. I'm not exactly welcome in his house though, being a half blood and all. And to make things worse I committed the huge crime of consorting with Muggles by going to a Muggle school." he said scornfully.

Rose nearly gagged on her drink and exclaimed. "You went to a Muggle school?"

"Yeah. My mom thought it would be a good prep before going to Hogwarts and also a nice platform to socialize with the Muggle kids." he said while sipping his drink.

"I went to a Muggle school too." Rose said excitedly. "My mom's a Muggleborn and she thought Muggle school would be challenging for me."

"Wow I didnt know that." he said equally excited. "I have to say, those Muggles are definitely ingenious. Science and everything. How many wizards could come up with those kind of inventions."

"I know. Mom always says most wizards don't have an ounce of logic. Hey do you like Muggle music?" Rose asked curiously.

"Oh I love it. I have one of those Muggle devices bewitched to work inside Hogwarts. Eye Toads or something."

"You mean I-pods." Rose said while laughing.

"Oh is that what they're called." Neime said blushing. "Well I'm not good at remembering names." he said with a smile on his face.

It was the first time he'd smiled without looking forced or uncomfortable and Rose couldn't help but stare at his features as he did. He was always admired by the girls for his austerity, his ability to look good without over embellishing himself. And today was no exception as he sparkled like a gem in his emerald green shirt giving him the look of a Slytherin King. His hair was carefully matted to give it a wavy stillness and his eyes, which matched the color of his jeans reminded Rose of deep blue oceans. She had to admit she had never seen a beauty so divine.

They continued talking quite animatedly for a while when the room started getting noisier. When they realized that it was impossible to have a peaceful conversation in here, Rose suggested they go somewhere else.

It was only after they stepped out of the pub that she realized what she'd just said.

_Relax Rose. No need to panic. After all this isn't a real date_. But somehow her mind was becoming increasingly unsure of that.

"So where to, next? You know I'm not particularly enthusiastic about spending an entire date walking in the cold." he said smiling.

Rose chuckled before answering. "Well what about the Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes. Its my Uncle's shop, so we might get discounts on certain items." still pretending as though Madam Puddifoot didn't own a tea shop.

"Cool. I've been meaning to get one of those tumbling tweezers. I need to try it out on one of my friends who's been bugging me for a while."

"I'm not getting you any discount unless I get a guarantee that I'm not that friend." said Rose smiling.

Neime chortled as both of them trudged towards the joke shop mingling more comfortably than when they entered the pub.

* * *

"See, I told you they weren't going to stay in there too long." said a certain redhead sneaking from behind a shop. 

"They're probably going over to the tea shop next, you mark my words." he cried.

The two boys standing behind him rolled their eyes at each other, the taller of which was holding a large number of packets covered in bright colored wrappers.

"Hugo can we go now. My hands are starting to ache. These are really heavy." said James exhausted.

James and Albus had returned to the castle to get the money they fell short off. It was on their way back that Hugo joined them on the pretense of visiting the joke shop, when his real intention was to spy on his sister.

"No, I'm not done. She's my sister and its my job to make sure that Zabini doesn't take advantage of her." said Hugo keeping his eye on Rose and Neime.

"I assure you Hugo, he won't." said a voice that made all three of them jump at once.

Scorpius Malfoy was standing behind them, hands in his pockets and with an amused look on his face.

"Scorp. You scared the hell out of us." said Albus slightly breathless.

"Sorry Al. I heard you guys were getting a bit freaked out about Rose going out with Neime and I wanted to talk to you about it. Followed you all the way till here." he said and James noticed that he looked duller than usual.

"Scorpius, I trust you and your judgement but thats my sister in there and you can't deny that Zabini's a...Well he does have a slightly infamous reputation." said Hugo hesitantly.

"Yes he does. I'm not denying that. But the girl in there is also someone he really likes. And I don't rememeber Neime going out with anyone whom he claimed to have genuinely liked."

"He said that? He told you he liked her." asked Hugo sounding surprised.

"Yeah sort of. She's probably the first girl he's ever truly liked. So I assure you he will not treat her disrespectfully under any circumstances. Also it was your sister who asked Neime out, not the other way around."

"Rose asked Zabini out? Whoa..That girls a true Weasley." said Albus looking over at Rose who was now entering the joke shop.

"Fine. I guess I'll have to take your word for it." said Hugo eyeing the joke shop apprehensively.

"Alright then. We better get back to the castle. Need to test some of these inventories." said Al nodding towards the packets in James' hands

"Bye Scorpius." said Hugo unenthusiastically, slogging lazily through the snow and peeking at the joke shop every now and then.

"Come on James." said Al tugging at his brother's t-shirt.

"Why don't you carry some of this for a while." He said shoving half of the packets into Al's hands "I'll be right with you. And tell Fred we're going back to the castle, he's in the post office. I need to have a little word with Scorp here."

"Alright..See ya Scorp." said Al and disappeared into the crowd with Hugo.

"What is it?" asked Scorpius peering at the joke shop behind James intently.

"Drop the act Scorp. You don't think I know what's going on?"

Scorpius reverted his gaze back to James who was eyeing him with an all knowing look.

"What the hell are you talking about." asked Scorpius although he knew exactly what James was hinting at.

"Hmm let's see. You seemed all happy and cheerful until a week ago. Then Rose goes out on a date with Neime and you look as though someone's died. I've known you long enough to know how you feel about Rose, Scorp. So stop pretending as though you're okay with this whole thing." James finished.

Scorpius was starting to get riled up as he retorted "Well, what was I supposed to do huh? She asked Neime out herself. They both like each other a lot. Why the hell must I butt in and ruin their happiness." he shouted without intending to.

"Oh I forgot. Scorpius Malfoy, the all sacrificing saint." he scoffed. "Why don't you admit you weren't man enough to ask her out in the first place and meanwhile somebody else beat you to it and now you're sulking around like a ..."

He didn't finish speaking those last words as he went flying backwards into the snow and crashing into a wall with a couple of bystanders gasping.

As Scorpius whipped his wand back into his pocket and walked away, James got back on his feet and shouted loudly from behind. "Thats right Malfoy. Run away like a coward without ever telling her how you feel!"

James regretted having yelled at him and calling him by his surname. _But if this is what it takes for him to stop being a chicken , then so be it _he thought angrily as he rubbed the back of his head which was throbbing painfully.

* * *

Rose couldn't believe a fake date could prove to be this enjoyable. But fake or not, she was enjoying every minute she spend with this boy. 

They spend a considerable amount of time and money in the joke shop after leaving the Three Broomsticks. They then decided to visit the Shrieking Shack inorder to deal with Neime's fear of the place. Rose explained to him how the stories of the place being haunted was infact a rumor encouraged by the great Albus Dumbledore for the purpose of helping a student.

He seemed fascinated by her family and listened quite intently to the details of the war. He said he was interested in listening to a non-exaggerated version of the story, especially from the daughter of a person who played an active role in defeating Voldemort. He was particularly interested in hearing about her Uncle who worked with dragons in Romania saying that he had an avid interest in the field and wanted to pursue it as a career.

They then made a quick trip to HoneyDukes, and later returned back to the Three Broomsticks. They sat there, sipping Butterbeer, discussing the war, this time from the perspective of his father who was one of the non-Death Eater Slytherins. He talked of how his father was indeed blood prejudiced once, and how he has reformed considerably since then.

Rose couldn't believe how easy it was to converse with Neime. They shared a lot of common interests from Muggle movies to dragon breeds. Neime after his initial reservations had settled down and started talking more openly and before they knew it, they were chatting away tirelessly. Rose didn't know how long they sat there talking but it certainly felt like a very short time as they both realized disappointedly that it was time for them to return.

They got out of the pub and on their way back he started talking about Quidditch and how he was planning on getting a new broom.

"I heard your friend Anna has a new Nimbus model. I've been looking forward to buying that for a while now."

Rose stopped dead on her tracks. The moment Anna's name cropped up, everything came back to her. Scorpius's declaration, Armene's taunting, Anna's advices...

"Rose, you okay?" asked Neime looking back at Rose who had stopped walking.

"Oh yes. I'm fine." she said nervously as they resumed walking towards the castle.

They stopped walking when they reached the stairs and stood awkwardly in silence, both waiting for the other to speak. Rose was terrfied at the thought of having to come clean. The moment of truth had arrived.

Neime moved close to her and spoke in a warm voice.

"Rose, I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed myself today." he said with an honesty that made Rose's heart melt.

Rose didn't know what to say. She knew she had to be honest with him as he had been with her and tell him the truth about why she was here in the first place.

Her panic must have registered on her face as Neime asked her once more whether she was alright and that she looked unwell.

"I..Well.." she stuttered suddenly feeling as if there wasn't enough oxygen in the hall.

Mean while Anna's words kept playing in her head in a continuous loop._ Beg for his forgiveness. Scorpius and Zabini are like brothers. He knows how Scorpius feels about you. He probably won't mind._

And like always, without thinking, without considering about the consequences she spouted out the next few words.

"I had a really good time too. And I wouldn't mind if we could do this again some time."

The words she spoke weren't forced or fake. There was a genuineness in her voice and Rose realized it was because she did infact mean it. She wasn't ashamed or angry or disappointed at what she said and knew for certain she wasn't going to regret it. Rose couldn't deny she had the most enjoyable date ever and was more than eager to continue it.

"I would love to. How about the next Hogsmeade weekend?" asked Neime, his face lighting up.

"Sure, that would be great." she said and blushed as he took her hands into his and squeezed it tightly. They stood holding hands for a while, indifferent to everything else that was going on around them.

"See you then." he said, slowly letting go of her hands before turning around and leaving for the dungeons.

"Bye." she said and smiled, thinking maybe next time she wouldn't pretend to be so oblivious to the tea shop that was said to exist in Hogsmeade..

* * *

**Author's note: I know this chapter was a bit fluffy. And I know some people might be upset with it because of your shipping preferences. But I assure you THIS WAS AND IS A ROSE/SCORPIUS FIC. Waiting eagerly to hear your comments.**

**Oh and the reason why I have Weasleys wizarding wheezes in Hogsmeade is because in book six Fred and George talked of how they had plans of buying Zonko's joke shop. So I just assumed George would have bought it after the war.  
**


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's note: I wanted to include a lot more in this chapter. But I didn't want to make it too long and bore you with it. Also I wanted to end it on a cliffy, albeit a small one . Once again thank you so much for your reviews. It means the world to me.**

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and any of the characters within. They are the sole property of JK Rowling

* * *

"You did what?" exclaimed Anna, her eyeballs at the verge of popping out.

"I asked him if we could go out again next week," replied Rose waiting for the explosion to come.

Anna didn't say anything but instead walked back and forth a few times, before stopping abruptly and sitting down on Rose's bed.

"So let me get this straight. You went on a date with him by sheer accident, planning to break up with him by the end of it. But instead, ended up fixing another date with him?" she asked in a strained voice.

"Well yeah sort of." replied Rose almost cowering under Anna's gaze. "But its only because I had a really good time with him,"she added, trying to justify her action.

"So when did Scorpius die?" asked Anna.

"What?" cried Rose.

"Well its logical to assume he is dead, considering how this whole Neime thing started off with you having feelings for Scorpius,"

Rose didn't say anything but merely looked down.

"Come on Rose. Tell me what you're planning to do about Scorpius," asked Anna gravely.

"I don't know," replied Rose, still looking down. "I'm just..confused right now. I don't want to hurt anyone. Besides, Neime was really nice and we had a good time together,"

"And Scorpius?" questioned Anna wondering whether her friend had ended up falling for Neime in pursuit of his best friend.

When Rose didn't reply, Anna went on. "Okay. I know whats happened here. So now you have feelings for both Scorpius and Neime, and you're not able to choose between them. Is that right?"

"Its not a matter of choosing Anna," she said looking up once again. "Scorpius makes it so much harder. I mean, why doesn't he just come up to me and tell me how he feels. And Neime's really quite nice. After how he treated me the whole date, I couldn't bring myself to break his heart. And I'm 17 for Merlin's sake, not 30. I'm 17 and confused," she said while falling back on her bed, her eyes shut tight.

Anna couldn't expect anything less from Rose. Indeed, this was what endeared her to everyone, her concern for people. But Anna was still worried about where Rose was planning on taking this. Having heard her talk about Scorpius Malfoy, everyday, for the past two years, she doubted whether this new found infatuation for Neime was anything serious. And if it wasn't, it could seriously damage Scorpius's and Rose's chance of being together.

Anna decided it was best to leave her alone for now. She slowly crept out of the room without saying anything, hoping things will work out for her best friend.

Rose heard Anna leave and got back up. She went over to the mirror and looked at her reflection. The Sleakeazy potion was wearing off and her hair was slowly bundling up. She used a cleaning spell to take off her makeup after which she collapsed onto a chair in front of the mirror.

_It's all a dream Rosie_, she remembered her Dad's comforting words during times of distress.

She sat there for what seemed like hours, staring at her reflection lost in her father's words. _I just hope I wake up soon, Dad_, she thought to herself.

* * *

Scorpius, after having walked all the way to the castle and into his common room, was still furious. James' words were still ringing in his ears, which made it hard for him to suppress his anger. He couldn't even find a first year to vent his anger on. Where did all the midgets go when you needed them, he thought upon entering the castle.

_Thats it Malfoy. Run away like a coward_. Scorpius felt his blood boiling as he recalled James's words, particularly his use of his surname.

He and his family had gone through years and years of torment for what they did during the war. To this day, the name Malfoys were synonymous with cowardice. It was true his family weren't the bravest of people, but for him to be judged on the basis of his father's actions was unfair. It had taken him six long years to prove to everyone that he wasn't like his father. He remembered how even the Potters and Weasleys were initially reticent towards him.

He got into his common room which was empty except for a few second years who were practicing vanishing spells. As he sat down in his chair and stretched out, he thought about what James had said. Wasn't he right after all? For the first time in his life, he lacked the courage to do something, something that people like Neime did all the time, without any hesitation.

Upon realizing that everything James said was true, he started to get increasingly annoyed. Just when he was planning on taking it out on the second years who were giggling rather loudly, Neime walked into the common room. The girls were spared.

Neime was so lost in his thoughts, smiling to himself, that he didn't see Scorpius sitting in front of him. Scorpius didn't have to look twice at his best friend to deduce that he had an enjoyable date.

"Had a good time?" he asked trying to sound polite, but his inner demons were still at work and his anger boiling at the surface.

Neime who hadn't noticed Scorpius until then, looked up startled and said.

"Whoa...didn't see you there mate. I was looking all over for you, before I left. Where were you?"

"I was.. with Hagrid, helping him out in the forest," he lied.

"So how was the date?" he asked once again, not getting a reply the first time.

"Oh.." Neime was stumped for words. He had the best time of his life and yet he had to be careful with his words, lest they should upset his best friend. He sat down on an armchair and took off his coat.

"It was okay," he said without looking at Scorpius, flipping through a magazine that was laying on the table nearby.

"I'm not gonna start crying if you tell me the truth you know," said Scorpius.

Neime realized there was no point in hiding anything from Scorpius anymore. After all he was going to go out with her again, next week. He put down the magazine and leaned forward in his armchair and started talking about the whole ordeal. Within minutes he was talking animatedly, like a a child who had discovered the world's biggest chocolate bar.

"And then once we started talking, we couldn't stop. And later, we went to the Honeydukes, the joke shop, the Shack - yeah she talked me into going there, despite my fear, can you believe that? Overall, I don't think I've had such a fun time ever," he finished looking flushed.

Scorpius listened to the whole thing quite impassively. His mind was subdued and didn't respond to the words Neime had just spoken. Until yesterday, the thought of Neime and Rose together didn't bother him very much. But now after the days events, hearing Neime go on about his date caused his brain to jam together and before he knew it, his temper was starting to rise again.

"She asked if we could go out again next week," said Neime, taking hold of the magazine once again and burying himself in it so that he didn't have to face Scorpius.

Scorpius, who until then, had been lost in his thoughts, jerked his head up to face Neime and exclaimed "What?"

"Well yeah, she said she had a wonderful time and wanted to know whether we could do this again sometime," he said, still not looking at Scorpius and suddenly finding the magazine quite interesting.

"And what did you say?" Scorpius asked restraining his anger with all his might.

"I said yes. I mean, I couldn't have said no," he said and trying to change the subject he added, "Hey did you know the Shrieking Shack is not really haunted, it was all a rumor that..."

"Cut the crap Neime. I know you're trying to change the topic," said Scorpius and Neime suddenly noticed, as he looked up from his magazine, that Scorpius was fuming.

"Alright, fine. I agreed to go out with her next Saturday." he said, quite defiantly.

Scorpius couldn't believe what he was hearing. Of course he had wanted them to be together until yesterday, but all of a sudden he couldn't accept the fact that his friend, who had claimed to sacrifice his feelings for him, was starting a full fledged relationship with the girl he liked. Scorpius suddenly felt piping hot anger coursing through his veins.

"So what about all those empty words of your's. About how this was going to be a one time thing?" asked Scorpius, his face reddening.

"Well..I.. I changed my mind, alright?" said Neime and he would have felt guilty for his actions if it wasn't for Scorpius's current attitude.

"So how long before you dump Rose, like all the other girls you've dated?" asked Scorpius sneering.

"You know very well how I feel about her, Scorpius. I would never hurt her intentionally," said Neime in a raised voice, getting angrier by the minute.

"Oh please. Everyone knows your reputation. You'll probably get tired of her and throw her away like you always do." he spat, "when you get what you want." he added without intending to.

Neime stood up immediately, with his jaws tightening and his hands traveling to the insides of his pocket, where his wand lay.

"Take that back, Scorpius." he said loudly which prompted the second year girls to turn around and observe what was going on.

"After everything I told you over the years, you still had to have a go at Rose. And I thought you were my friend," cried Scorpius, standing up and letting out every negative feeling, he had bottled up for the past one week.

"You are nothing but a sore loser. In case you forgot, I never had a go at Rose. She chose me over you. Even if she hadn't, how much time did you have at your leisure to ask her out. But no, you never had the guts to tell her how you felt in the first place. And now you're being a big cry baby because you missed your chance!" he spat.

"Shut your mouth Zabini!" Scorpius yelled, taking his wand out in the process, at which point the girls decided it was no longer safe to stay there and quickly ran out the entrance behind the gargoyle.

"You're just too used to getting what you want, being a Malfoy. But for the first time you realized you can't have what you want. You can't run to your daddy, asking for a means to get Rose to go out with you. Draco Malfoy could give his son everything he wanted, but not the girl he liked," said Zabini sneering.

Scorpius had reaching boiling point. His hands, his mouth, his brain - they were all perfectly positioned to mouth a curse to send Zabini hauling across the room. But first, he wanted to win this war of words that they were having.

"At least my father was sensible enough to make sure half bloods like you and your mother didn't cross our entrance,"

BAM!!..Zabini sent a jinx straight at Malfoy knocking him off his feet. Although Zabini didn't have a wand ready like Scorpius, his lightning fast reflexes, beat him to it.

Scorpius quickly recovered but before he could aim a curse at Zabini, who was now standing in front of him with his wand pointing to his chest, Zabini started speaking, his face filled with fury.

"How dare you have a go at my mother! I should have known you would start showing your true colors sooner or later Malfoy. Your whole family is nothing but a bunch of cowards and you're just..."

Scorpius didn't care that he had a magical wand at his disposal, which could spit out jinxes and hexes with a slight movement. He knew no spell or curse could give him as much pleasure as he had in punching his knuckles into the boy's face. Zabini fell back with a thud, taken aback by this sudden wandless attack.

The gargoyle opened up and the students who had returned from Hogsmeade stopped dead. Neime Zabini and Scorpius Malfoy were brawling like street kids in front of them, both their wands lying a foot away from where they lie fighting. All the boys who had come in, went over to the spot where the two best friends were fighting and tried to pull them apart.

The two boys who were bleeding from various spots on their hands and faces, let out a mixture of swear words as they were separated.

"Get off me!" shouted Scorpius who was struggling against the grip of a seventh year, who was much shorter than him.

"This is it. This friendship is over!" shouted Scorpius, who managed to break free of his grips and walked away towards the entrance and left the room.

"Like I'm complaining! It was never bound to last anyway. Get the hell off me!" Scorpius heard Neime shout as he left the common room. Scorpius's lips and forehead were bleeding profusely, but it was nothing compared to how hurt he was emotionally. Hurt at having broken off thirteen years of a devoted friendship.

"Rose, Rose.." cried Anna who was standing outside the Arithmancy classroom, waiting for Rose and looking for her among the group of students that were making their way out of the room.

"Anna? What happened?" asked Rose as soon as she spotted her waiting outside.

"Come with me. There's something I need to tell you," she said and pulled Rose into one of the empty classrooms.

"Did you hear?" asked Anna wondering whether Rose had already heard of the news from someone else.

"Hear what?" asked Rose starting to get tensed.

"Everyone was talking about it in class today. Apparently Scorpius and Neime had a huge fight last Saturday," said Anna.

"A fight? You mean like an argument?" Rose asked nervously.

"No. A real fight. From what I heard, they didn't even use wands. The Slytherins had to pull them apart, to prevent them from ripping each other up. Apparently Scorpius and Neime have broken off their friendship,"

Rose covered her mouth with her hands and gasped unable to believe what she just heard.

" It now takes the combined effort of all three of their roommates to get them to sleep in the same dormitory," finished Anna.

"Anna," said Rose suddenly overcome with a dreadful thought."You don't think they fought over me, do you?" she said looking worried.

"No, I don't think it was you. It must have been an argument on who would grace the cover of Witch Weekly next week. Of course they were fighting over you Rose. What else could two best friends who used to get along really well, quarrel about? Also a couple of second years witnessed the argument before the fight, and they heard a mention of your name," she replied.

"Its my fault. Its all my fault," Rose said, looking distraught.

"Rose. Listen to me," said Anna gravely. "Now that the damage is done. I want you to tell Scorpius the truth. Starting from how you felt about him, to how you asked Neime out by accident, and how the date turned out to be surprisingly pleasant. He would understand. Weren't you two good friends before this whole thing started?" inquired Anna.

Rose nodded and asked. "What about Neime?"

"Till you're able to make a decision on whom you'd rather be with, it would be better if you kept him in the dark. He might not take the news so pleasantly, especially after the fight. You might end up ruining your chances of being with either of them." she said

"Alright then. But is it okay if I tell him after the holidays. I need some time to recuperate. This last week has been pretty hectic," Rose said wearily.

"Sure. But as soon as you return from the holidays you must tell Scorpius the truth. Okay? No more excuses,"

Rose nodded and the two friends made for the door. Amidst their discussion they didn't look back as they walked out of the room. If they had, they would have discovered Armene Parkinson spying behind the door.

Armene couldn't suppress a smile as she heard everything the two girls discussed. This was exactly what she was looking for. One word of any of this to Zabini, with careful manipulation of course, and all hell would break loose. She left the corridor humming cheerfully, having finally got her chance to get back at Rose.

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	8. Chapter 8

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**Author's note: This is a comparatively shorter chapter, but hope you like it. :) **

**Disclaimer: The following story is not intended for profit. Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling, period.**

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Neime snapped open his eyes and turned around in his bed. After laying still for a while, he sat up, stretching his arms and yawning widely. Outside, the sun was slowly rising up , the rays of light creeping into the room, causing the rest of the boys to tuck in even deeper into their bed covers. Neime, instead of going back to sleep, got out of his bed and left to get ready.  
He had acquired the new habit of waking up early after the fight with Scorpius, since he couldn't bear to be in the same room with him for more than five minutes. Once ready, he pocketed his wand and made his way out of the dormitory.

When he reached the Great Hall, he saw that there were only a handful of students in there, most of them Quidditch players, having gotten up early to practice. He went over and sat down at his table, taking a bowl of porridge and eating heartily.

As he sat there eating, he could see some of the Gryffindors eying him skeptically. Upon looking closely he saw that one of them was Rose's younger brother. He knew Rose's family was more averted to him than Scorpius, with whom they were good friends. Although he had gotten along pretty well with James and Albus , he thought he felt a marked indifference towards him since he went out with Rose.

As he took a sip of his juice, he felt a person taking a seat next to him.

"Hey handsome," he heard a suave voice calling out.

He turned around to see who it was and found Armene Parkinson smiling at him.

"Oh. Hey Armene," he said sleepily.

"How come you're up so early?" she asked while pouring milk into her cereal.

"No particular reason," he said shrugging, taking another swig from his goblet.

"Its Scorpius isn't it? I heard what happened. Sorry to hear about that," she said looking at him sympathetically.

Neime didn't say anything but dug deeper into his pudding.

Armene, after studying him carefully, went on while pouring pumpkin juice into her goblet. "In my opinion, it was stupid of you both to fight over a girl. You guys have known each other for over ten years, and now aren't even speaking to each other anymore. All because of a girl," she spoke the last few words with a distinctive contempt.

Neime was starting to get annoyed by Armene's ramblings and was about to get up and leave when she said.

"Whats kills me though is how Rose is playing you both, mercilessly,"

"What?" snapped Neime almost knocking down his goblet as he turned around.

"I know I shouldn't be saying this. But when I see how you're being used, it just kills me," Armene said, faking a worried look.

"What the hell are you talking about?" asked Neime, his heart beating slightly faster.

"Yesterday when I was using the girl's bathroom, I heard two girls come in and start talking about you and Scorpius. Upon hearing their voices, I realized that it was Rose and her friend Anna. I heard Rose say that she never intended to ask you out. Apparently, she has feelings for Scorpius,"

Neime couldn't make sense of what he just heard and asked "What do you mean she never intended to ask me out,"

"I don't know, but thats what I heard. But its obvious what she's trying to do, isn't it ? I mean why else would you ask someone out if you're interested in their best friend. To make Scorpius jealous of course. Its a trick we girls often employ to get the guy we want,"

Neime couldn't believe what he was hearing. He comforted himself with the belief that Rose wouldn't do such a thing.

"I know you don't believe me. If you have any doubts, why don't you ask her yourself. Ask her whether she has feelings for Scorpius and see how she reacts,"

Neime clenched his fists. The anger he hadn't felt since the fight with Scorpius, returned, causing him to look like a bomb about to explode.

Neime got up from his seat and left to find Rose. Armene meanwhile smiled lazily, as she played around with her porridge. _I'm so good at being bad_, she thought to herself while chuckling.

* * *

Rose for the first time in her life, was failing to pay attention to Professor Mcgonagall. She was still going over what Anna had said and felt extremely guilty for being the cause of Neime and Scorpius's rift. Before she knew it, the class ended and she joined the group of students piling out of the classroom.  
Rose in the middle of her musings, almost ran into a boy who was much taller than she was. Upon looking up, her heart sank as she saw Neime Zabini standing in front of her.

"Neime.." she said started. "What are you doing here?" she asked with a weak smile.

"I need to speak with you urgently," he said as Rose's smile faltered. She noticed how he wasn't smiling and instead looked grave.

"Okay," she said as they moved to a more lonely part of the corridor.

"Is it true that you have feelings for Scorpius?" he asked at once.

Rose felt her heart drop into her stomach as she processed what she just heard.

"Who told you?" she started, looking shocked.

"Never mind how I found out. Is it true?" he asked once again, his face swollen up due to the rage he was feeling.

Rose realized, the moment to be honest with Neime had finally come and it took her all her might to speak the next few words.

"Well yes I do, but..."

"What? You liked Scorpius? Then why the hell did you ask me out?" he yelled before Rose could finish her sentence.

"Neime, please just listen to me.."

"All along you kept playing me like a puppet. And I fought with my best friend! I broke off thirteen years of our friendship, all because of you and now I find out it was all a sick ploy to make Scorpius jealous?"

Rose stood terrified unable to reply, her eyes widening as she heard how he had interpreted the whole ordeal.

Neime had shouted so loud that he had to stop talking to calm himself down. Rose took this opportunity to defend herself.

"Neime. I swear I didn't play you," she said pleadingly. "Its true I like Scorpius. The day I came to your common room, I was planning to tell him how I felt. But when I thought of our families, of how difficult it was all going to be, I chickened out,"

"Yes, I did ask you out by accident. I never even wanted to go out with you. But every thing I said during that date was true. You have no idea how much I enjoyed it. I was going to tell you the truth by the end of it, but I really liked you and I couldn't get myself to hurt yo," she finished, tears welling up in her eyes.

Neime listened to her intently and felt sorry for making her cry. But he was still doubtful about what she said.

Rose recognized the doubt that was still lingering in Neime's eyes, which is why she continued speaking

"I know Scorpius likes me," she said, at which point Neime looked up at her in surprise.

"I heard him tell Armene the day before I asked you out. Why would I try to make someone jealous if I know he already likes me?" she asked earnestly.

Neime realized what she said did make sense. And he had known Rose long enough to know, she wouldn't stoop to such low standards.

They stood in silence for what seemed like ages before Neime said "So what are you planning to do now?" he asked in a much lower voice.

"I don't know," she replied, feeling despondent.

"So when were you planning on telling me this?" he asked.

"After the holidays," she said looking down at the floor.

"So you were planning on going out with me this Saturday, all the while harboring feelings for my best friend? Sorry, let me correct that, 'Ex best friend'? " he said, flaring up again.

Rose couldn't do anything but stare down at the floor. She had never been so ashamed of herself.

After a long interval of silence Neime resumed speaking

"You know what you have to do. Its either me or Scorpius," Neime said curtly and started walking away. He stopped midway and turned around before adding. "And I think it'll be better if we didn't see each other until then," he said desolately.

Rose, still staring down at the floor, heard Neime's footsteps retreating. She knew it all came down to a choice. A choice, which would inevitably leave one of them hurt.

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"Rosie dear. Are you in there ?" she heard her mother call.  
"Yes Mom." she answered and soon her mother got into the room placing down the laundry on one of her tables.

"Are you alright honey? You've been up here, all day. Your Grandma and Granddad have been asking for you," said Hermione carefully folding the clothes.

"Yeah I'm fine. I was just finishing up this book. The exams are only a month away," she replied seriously.

Hermione noticed that her daughter was looking quite sullen. She moved closer to her and sat down on her bed.

"Are you sure you're okay, Rosie. Anything troubling you at school?" she asked concerned.

"No Mom. I'm fine," she replied wearily.

Hermione eyed her doubtfully for a while, before getting up.

"Well alright. Just remember that I'm here for you, in case you need someone to talk to,"

As Hermione got up to to leave, Rose called out to her.

"Mom, would you mind giving your advice on something?" she asked nervously.

"Sure. What is it honey?" she enquired sitting down on her bed once again.

"You remember Anna, my best friend?"

"Sure I do. Quite a charming girl," said Hermione smiling.

"Well she's sort of in a predicament," said Rose putting down her book and turning around to face her mother.

"She likes this guy at school, whom she found out, likes her too. But he's quite shy about displaying his affections and hasn't told her how he feels. So she took it upon herself to tell him she feels the same way. But kind of freaked out at the last moment,"

"Why?" asked Hermione.

"Because of their families. See, the boy is a pureblood Slytherin and Anna is a Muggle born," she answered.

"And what's this boy's name?" asked Hermione skeptically.

"Scorpius..Scorpius Malfoy," she said and saw that her mother was eying her suspiciously before asking her to go on.

Rose continued with her story replacing her name with Anna's and trying to sound as confident as possible while lying.

"So now Neime has given me...I mean her, a choice and she's confused and unable to make the proper one," she finished looking up at her mother expectantly.

Hermione couldn't suppress her smile. She knew from the moment Rose started, that she was the protagonist of her little story. Initially she was slightly shocked to hear that she had fallen for Malfoy's son, but having heard a lot about Scorpius from her, she was sure he wasn't anything like Draco.

"Well I guess I might be able to give your friend some advice, having been in a similar situation myself," said Hermione smugly.

"You were in a similar situation?" Rose asked surprised.

"Yes. I had feelings for your father ever since our fourth year at school and according to Harry, so did Ron. But we never told each other about it, each expecting the other to make the first move. Meanwhile I met another person who seemed quite interested in me and asked me out,"

"Who was it?" asked Rose eagerly.

"Viktor Krum." said Hermione flushing slightly.

"Whoa.. Uncle Viktor fancied you once?" she exclaimed, not being able to believe their family friend had the hots for her mother once.

"So did you agree to go out with him?" she asked excitedly.

"Well, I didn't see why I shouldn't. I kept hoping your father would ask me first. But he didn't have the courage to tell me how he felt for the next three years," she said, scowling.

"So did you like Uncle Krum?" she asked, praying her mother would say no.

"I did like him. But it was nothing serious. For me, it was always your father, " she said while smiling.

"But how did you know for sure Dad was the one?" she asked, wondering whether there was a secret spell to finding out who was the perfect partner.

"I just knew. When it comes down to it, you'll realize that its probably the easiest choice you've ever had to make. Thats how it was for me and your father," she said, gleaming.

Hermione kissed Rose on her forehead and looked at her quite affectionately. On her way out of the room she spoke in a more serious tone.

"You better tell your friend Anna, that if she gets distracted by this Scorpius/Neime business and stops paying attention to her studies, her mother is not going to be very happy about it," she said quite sternly.

Rose gulped upon seeing her mother's expression and wondered if she had done a good job at lying effectively.

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" So, ready for the confession?" asked Anna, while cutting up her sausages as they sat at the table in the Great Hall.

"Anna. We've only just returned from the holidays. Would you at least let me breathe?" Rose said, exasperated.

"Well, seeing as you're not one of the bravest people in the world, I would have to keep reminding you of your task, lest you chicken out, like always," remarked Anna.

Rose scowled as she got up, gorging down her food quickly, claiming she wanted to go to the library and do a bit of reading before attending her first class.

Just as she was about to take her bag and leave, Scorpius Malfoy strode right in front of her and caught hold of her hands.

"Rose. I need to have a word with you," he said, his face deceiving the panic thundering through his body.

Rose was so taken aback by this gesture that she couldn't get herself to say a word.

Scorpius took this as an 'okay' and dragged her along with him, a thousand eyes following the two of them as they left the Great Hall.

Scorpius kept looking for an empty classroom and when he finally found one, dragged Rose into it, his mind finally prepared to let out everything he had been holding in for the past three years.

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**Author's note: Please, please review. I noticed that a lot of you are reading my story without commenting. As I'm an author who relies heavily on your feedback, I would request you to please tell me what you thought of it. Constructive criticism is welcome as usual.**

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	9. Chapter 9

**Author's note: I'm so sorry I took so long to update. Life has been pretty busy, not to mention the fact that I wanted this chapter to be extra special. I hope I have done justice to it and hope you like it as much as the other chapters.**

**Once again, thank you soooooo much to all those who reviewed. Hugs everyone tightly. You have no idea how encouraging it is to read all your thoughts and opinions. :)**

**Disclaimer: If I am JK Rowling, then today must be April first.**

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"Come on Rene. Whats taking you so long?" whispered an irate Armene. 

"Armene, this is a NEWT level potion. I have to be careful with it, otherwise its effects can be more disastrous than intended." replied Rene, a long haired bespectacled girl, in an even lower voice.

Armene looked around surreptitiously and looked at her watch in panic.

"The dinner must be almost over. We need to get out of here, before the teachers come back." said Armene panicking and looking around the dungeon where they were brewing a potion.

"Just one more ingredient and its done. Do you have the salamander juice I asked you to get?" asked Rene who was sweating profusely due to the steam emanating from the cauldron.

"Yeah I got it here. Stole it from the oaf's hut." she said smirking and took out a vial of a pungent smelling juice, which she had stolen from Hagrid's hut, when he was away in the forest.

Rene took the vial and poured the entire contents into the cauldron, at which point the potion started glowing a pinkish red. Rene consulted a book and upon seeing that they had obtained the desired results, smiled contently and gave a thumbs up to Armene.

Armene gleaming wickedly, took out a flask and filled it to the brim with the potion and put it away into her robe.

"Evanesco," said Rene and wiped off the remaining contents of the potion from the cauldron and started packing the ingredients that they had brought along with them. They walked out of the dungeon stealthily, and once they reached their common room entrance, breathed out with relief.

Rene's expression though, soon turned to one of uneasiness as she saw Armene smiling. Once they got into their dormitory, which was empty since none of their friends had returned from dinner, Armene carefully put the potion into one of her socks and placed it in her enchanted purse.

"Armene. Are you sure you want to do this. What if we get caught?" asked a concerned Rene, rubbing her glasses, which were darkened due to the soot.

"Oh calm down Rene. No one will have a clue. Scorpius has Quidditch practice tomorrow, which means he'll be getting up early. And I don't have to worry about Neime, since they both try to avoid staying in the same vicinity for too long. There are barely any students in the Great Hall during that time, save the Gryffindor Quidditch team, and you know how indifferent they are to us." she said as she carefully sealed her purse with her wand.

Rene was still looking troubled. She went over to Armene and said quite gravely. "Armene, don't forget how powerful this potion is. If he takes in more than three drops, he will run the risk of being knocked out for a few weeks." said Rene in a barely audible whisper, as though the walls might overhear what she said.

Armene nodded quite casually, ignoring Rene's words as she went on about the precautions.

"Alright, alright. All I want to know is whether this thing will work," asked Armene brusquely.

"Ofcourse it will. This potion is so powerful, it is known as the liquid Cruciatus. Although not to the same maginitude of a Crucio, the pain it causes is still powerful enough to knock you out for a few minutes, 10 minutes to be precise. But leaving lesser effects physically. The result being that the victim will not be able to provide any evidence of having been tortured. He'll be back to normal after a few minutes of pain. My Aunt Josephine taught me this. She works in an apothecary and told me to use it incase some one bothered me."

Armene stopped paying attention to Rene as she started talking about her Aunt. But the one thing that caught her attention amidst all the rambling was how the potion was going to cause Scorpius pain. 10 minutes of pure, unadulterated pain.

Armene was still shaking with anger after what happened yesterday, when she had approached Scorpius in the common room. Scorpius was sitting in a corner reading a book. She knew Scorpius was quite vulnerable at that point and had to take advantage of the situation. She slowly sat down next to him and began to speak.

"Hi," she said naively, while Scorpius smiled back. "I'm sorry to hear about you and Neime. Its really unfortunate,"

Scorpius didn't reply and continued reading his book.

"I know how you feel about Rose. In fact I would say she's a perfect choice for you," she said looking innocent, while Scorpius kept reading.

"But why do you have to keep pursuing someone who is not interested in you, especially after she chose Neime, knowing fully well how you feel about her."

Thud!!...The book slammed so hard in Scorpius's hands that a few of the nearby students jerked their head backward.

"What did you say?" asked Scorpius straining his ears.

"Well you do remember that night in the library, don't you. Unlike you, I went out of the room immediately after Madam Pince shouted at us and saw Rose standing right in front of the entrance. I asked her whether she heard what you said and she said yes. I figured she would have told you that." she said, studying her finger nails quite closely.

Scorpius's expression was livid. He remembered Rose saying quite clearly, how she'd heard Madam Pince shouting, when she reached the far end of the corridor. _She lied to me. She heard what I said_, his mind screamed. _So she did in fact chose Neime over me_. As he thought over the last few words, his head hurt real bad and he buried his face in his hands.

Armene kept watching him carefully, enjoying the damage she was inflicting upon the blond haired boy sitting by her side.

Scorpius suddenly jerked his head up. He had to hear it for himself. He had to hear Rose say she preferred Neime. He wanted to hear those words from her own lips. Scorpius realized what had to be done. He was finally going to tell her everything and hear what she had to say, first hand. It had taken him too long to muster this confidence, but he was finally ready.

"You don't need someone like Rose, Scorpius," said Armene softly as Scorpius was about to get up and leave.

" She's a Weasley. In case you forgot, your parents will never agree to your relationship with anyone other than a pureblood." she said moving closer.

Scorpius was already furious at Rose and Neime and he knew very well what Armene was hinting at. He couldn't restrain his anger any longer as he lashed out at her-

"You can stop hitting on me, Armene. There might be a bunch of dimwitted louts who would fall for that, but I'm not one of them." he spat, standing up as the whole common room fell silent and watched Scorpius and Armene.

Scorpius got up and left for his dormitory while Armene was left mortified, at having been humiliated in front of all the students.

So Armene had planned to get back at him, for what he had done to her yesterday and was now holding the purse which held the potion with a murderous smile. She wanted to cause him as much pain as possible, without it having any serious repercussions, lest she should be caught and expelled. She was after all a Slytherin and had to live up to her Founder's reputation. It was then, that her friend Rene had told her about the Dolorius potion, the liquid Cruciatus.

"But remember Armene. I have no idea what the effects are going to be. If you feed him more than three drops..." Rene repeated once again, frantically.

"If you say that one more time. It'll be you, I'll be feeding this whole thing." said Armene, threateningly and walked out of the dormitory feeling quite victorious.

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Rose was petrified. As Scorpius kept searching for an empty classroom, her mind went back to Anna's words. She wasn't terrified of what Scorpius was about to say, but rather of what she had to tell him. Scorpius finally found an empty classroom and dragged Rose into it. 

Rose tried to put on a brave and undaunted smile, but failed miserably. Scorpius took a deep breath. He knew from Rose's look that he was being intimidating, maybe even terrifying, what with this sudden behavior. But he had to keep going. He felt the blood in his body slowing down, making him feel dizzy, but he accounted it to the panic he was feeling. After all, he was finally going to tell her how he felt, no matter what she thought in return.

"Rose. I know that you like Neime. And he likes you too. I don't wish to interfere in your relationship. But I need to tell you how I feel about you. I don't think my mind will ever be at peace if I don't,"

Rose was bracing herself to hear the words she had been longing for, all this time. She listened to him quite calmly as he talked of Neime and their relationship, but she wasn't going to say anything, not yet.

"I don't know what you do to me. Its only after meeting you, that I realized how lonely I truly was. Being with you makes me more happy than I've ever known. I wish I had told you this earlier, but I didn't want to risk our friendship. If I could atleast have the privilege of talking to you once in a day, I didn't want to throw it away. I admit I am not as brave as you Gryffindors. I might also be head strong, too used to getting what I want, a Slytherin who makes sure he gets his way, and a Malfoy who've come to be known as both a travesty and a family of evil. I have my faults, but I am also completely in love with you,"

"You are free to choose whom you want to be with. But I didn't want you to leave Hogwarts without ever knowing, that you were once the most special person in the world to someone."

Rose was close to losing control and bursting out the deluge of tears that was building up in her eyes. She had never been so overwhelmed with emotions in her entire life. She remembered her mother once telling her, there would come a moment when her mind would be clearer than ever and the choice she would have to make would be the easiest she ever made. And as she stood there listening to the pale faced boy standing in front of her, she knew that moment had finally arrived and felt as though there was never a choice to make in the first place. _It was always him_, she repeated in her mind, like her mother once said about her father.

Rose knew it was now her turn to tell him what she felt and she waited for him to stop talking, unable to restrain her feelings any longer. She was also noticing how he was rapidly draining of color. At first, she thought it was due to the tension he was feeling, but slowly the paleness started becoming more and more lucid, as it spread from his face, down to his neck and his hands. But her mind was quickly distracted from all that, as Scorpius stopped talking and waited for an answer.

Rose put her bag down on a nearby table, clasped her hands together and took a deep breath before speaking.

"Scorpius. I..."

She stopped talking abruptly, because this time there was no mistaking it. Scorpius's face was now chalk white, his eyes were flickering as he blinked unusally fast and he was clutching onto the desk for support.

"Scorpius. Are you alright?" she asked, panicking as Scorpius started swaying on the spot where he stood.

"I'm fine..Its.." his voice trailed away as he fell straight to the floor, with Rose letting out a high pitched shriek.

Scorpius felt weak and jaded. He looked down and saw that his long spindly hands were devoid of blood. He could just about make out Rose and he realized that she was crying and saying something inaudible.

Just as he was about to try and get up, he fell to the floor once again, this time screaming and writhing in pain- a pain that he had never felt before. He felt as though being stabbed and slashed by a thousand knives, with Rose's cry echoing in the background like a death knell.

He thought he was going to die, right there in Rose's arms, when the pain suddenly stopped and the blood started coursing through his veins again. He opened his eyes weakly and to his relief saw that Rose appeared more clearer in view. But he could still not hear her properly.

Just as he was about to reach out and wipe her tears off, he heard a giant ring and everything faded to black. The last thing he saw before he lost consciousness, was Rose's brown- tear filled eyes and the last thought on his mind, was that he was going to die without ever knowing what she was about to say.

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**Author's note: So, what did you think? I would love feedback. Thanks so much for reading.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note: This is probably the shortest chapter since the first one. I had to get something out, since there might only be a slight possibility of an update in the coming week. Something is better than nothing right? **

**I don't know whether a lot of you will like this chapter, either way this is quite special to me, due to a guest appearance by a canon character. Sorry guys , couldn't resist.**

**Once again THANK YOU TO ALL THOSE WHO REVIEWED!!..you guys are the best ever.:)  
**

**Disclaimer: The following story is not intended for profit. Harry Potter is the sole property of JK Rowling.**

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The bells were still ringing in his ears, but they were no longer disturbing, but mellow and soporific. He didn't want to open his eyes, for fear of what he was about to see, dreading the thought of being dead. Slowly though, he fought the courage to open his eyes. 

His eyes were welcomed by the sight of a vast, empty room, with only one person seated at the end of it, who had his back turned to Scorpius. He strained his eyes to see who it was and thought he saw a man in black robes, staring at something in the corner of the room. He got up from where he lay and moved closer to the man. He called out to him loudly, but the man paid no attention and continued to remain seated, with his back turned to Scorpius.

Scorpius moved a little closer to see what the man was looking at. Suddenly, a large playground materialized at the exact same spot the man was staring at earlier, and in the playground, were two children running around and laughing heartily. One of them was a red haired girl, with sparkling green eyes and the other was a pale-looking young boy, with a large hooked nose.

Something about them both, seemed vaguely familiar to Scorpius. Fed up with being ignored by the man, he strode right in front of his chair to face him. Although he had intended to ask him where he currently was, the words that came out of his mouth were the following.

"You are Severus Snape." he gasped at seeing the ex-Headmaster of Hogwarts.

The man who until then was steadfast in his gaze, quickly tore away his attention from the two children and rested his eyes on Scorpius.

"You died and came all the way here to tell me that?" he scoffed.

"I am dead?" exclaimed Scorpius, his worst fear having come true.

The man didn't reply Scorpius's question, but instead scanned him from head to toe, his eyes lingering on his facial features slightly longer.

"You are a Malfoy?" he asked, his dark eyes boring into Scorpius's.

"Yes. Am I really dead?" asked Scorpius once again, somehow hoping this was all a dream.

Snape once again peered at him intently, his eyebrows arching up on his forehead inquisitively.

"It seems that you're stuck in the middle." he said finally.

"Stuck in the what?" asked Scorpius, his voice hitting a higher tone, each time he spoke.

"You haven't reached your corporeal form yet. Yes, you do have a body up here," he added upon seeing Scorpius's look. "But you, on the other hand, look blurry and unclear, like a memory. It seems you're not entirely dead yet." he remarked and went back to gazing at the two children, who had now grown slightly older.

Scorpius looked down at his hands and saw that he did indeed look blurry. He felt slightly relieved at hearing the news, but the man had said 'not dead yet', which meant that he wasn't completely out of danger's way. He wanted to ask him more questions, but doubted whether he would get any reply.

Once again, he cautiously approached the man. "Is there any chance I can get back?" he asked hesitantly.

Snape waited a long time before speaking, after which he said.

"If you think of something powerful and strong that connects you to the world you came from, you may have a chance of returning, but only if your body hasn't given up completely. You won't have a chance of going back, if you don't have a body which is capable of accepting you."

Scorpius realized that he was running out of time. He looked down at his hands and saw that his body was becoming clearer and limpid by the minute.

_Think of something strong, that'll help you return_. He willed himself to think of something powerful, but he hit roadblocks every time he came near to something. There was a specific memory that was evading him- which, he was positive, would let him return.

He tried to think hard for several minutes, until his head started to hurt real bad. Nothing? Was his life that empty, that he didn't have a reason to go back, he wondered scornfully.

Scorpius, annoyed and frustrated looked back at the two children and saw that they had now grown even older, the boy was now as old as him and looked strikingly similar to the man by his side.

"That's you, isn't it?" he asked nodding at the young boy who was dancing around the room with the green eyed girl in his arms.

"Yes." the man replied, his lips barely moving and his eyes fixed on the girl waltzing around the room.

Noticing how the man's expression had softened, Scorpius looked back at the couple dancing and tried to relax himself, so as to be able to concentrate harder. He was still trying to think of that one particular memory, that was evading him so efficiently, that made him so happy and yet terribly sad at the same time. Mean while, he looked down at his hands and to his horror saw that he was slowly returning back to his material form, his hands and feet no longer blurry.

In the end he gave up and sat down on a chair by the side, which he mentally conjured out of thin air and buried his face in his hands, anguished and grudgingly accepting his fate, the fate of a dead man.

Snape looked away from Lily to look down at the troubled young man by his side, whose face was still buried in his hands. After staring at him for a while he returned his gaze back to the couple in front of him.

"Hold onto the ones you love, even if they don't love you back. It may help you survive, especially when everyone has given up on you, yourself included." said Snape lugubriously, staring at his now fully grown self who was holding a beautiful red haired witch in an embrace.

Wham! A bolt of lightning hit Scorpius. "Rose!" he said, snapping his head up and as soon as the name left his mouth, he felt himself being transported into another place and the next thing he knew, he was immersed in a pool of pain.

He opened his eyes to see that he was lying in the hospital wing, his every limb hurting beyond measure. To his relief, he saw Madam Pomfrey approaching him.

"Oh thank Merlin you're awake. We were all so worried about you. There was only a very slim chance you would wake up so quickly. Merlin knows what would have happened, had you stayed in the coma longer." she said, gasping at her own words.

Scorpius knew, he had missed his death only by a moment and despite the overarching pain in his body, felt a huge sigh of relief - knowing he was alive and then quickly remembered the reason why he felt compelled to return.

"Rose," he said softly, weakened by the pain

"Sorry my dear?" asked Madam Pomfrey who was performing a healing spell on his body, which gave Scorpius a slight respite from pain.

"Did Rose Weasley come by?" he asked anxiously.

"Come by? She was the one that brought you here. Poor kid. Was in a right state when she came here. Didn't leave your side till I forced her to. I had to give her something for the shock, but I doubt whether that was enough. She keeps crying every time she comes to visit."

This didn't seem to make sense to Scorpius, since he didn't feel like he was gone for more than one hour. How many times could she have visited him during an hour.

"But how long have I been here?" he asked confused.

"Twenty days." she replied, now checking his temperature.

"What? But thats not possible. Wait, what about my exams?" he cried, panicking at the thought of missing a whole year, due to poor results.

"Relax my boy. The exams aren't for another three weeks and the Headmaster has agreed to let you take them in here. Since you're at the top of your class, you will hardly have trouble with it." she said assuringly.

Before he could get himself to reply, he felt a stab of pain in his ribs.

"Don't worry dear. Here, this potion will help." she said, as she fed him a particularly sour concoction..

Scorpius drank the whole thing obediently and felt himself being driven to sleep. As he closed his eyes, his mind wandered back to that mysterious room and its inhabitant.

Scorpius didn't know how quickly he fell asleep, but in his dream, he was back in that same room and this time, saw himself dancing around with a a beautiful, brown haired witch.

* * *

"Thank Merlin, he came out of his coma," sighed the bespectacled girl, looking thoroughly relieved. 

"Its all your fault. How many times did I tell you to be careful with that potion and not give him more than three drops." she added accusatorily.

The girl she was addressing, wasn't looking half as troubled as her friend. Armene was busy coloring her nails and barely seemed to be listening to her friend.

"Would you calm down. So I made a mistake, big deal. Its not as if he's dead or anything." she said casually, blowing her finger nails dry.

"Well thats the point Armene. Anything could have happened. My Aunt warned me that the effects could even be fatal if taken in excess, which is why its a banned substance," she said scornfully.

"Relax. Why are you panicking? Didn't you tell me there was no way of detecting it." asked Armene standing up to leave.

"Yes thats true. Luckily there's no way of tracing it. Even if they tried to find the cause of it, they won't be able to detect the potion or its contents in his stomach." Rene replied, assuaging herself with her own words.

"So there you go. There's no way they'll suspect us. So stop pestering me." she said roughly and left the dormitory.

Armene got out of her common room and was making her way to the Quidditch ground, to watch the boys practicing, when she came face to face with none other than Rose Weasley who seemed to be wearing an exultant smile on her face.

"Well well well... if it isn't the blood traitor. What are you doing outside Weasley. Shouldn't you be in a library, eating up your books." asked Armene, sneering.

"No. I thought I'd take a stroll outside. And lucky me, I bumped into the very person, I was looking forward to meet," answered Rose, smiling brightly.

Armene looked at her suspiciously, as Rose went on.

"You see, I had a little chat with my friend Anna a couple of weeks back," she said.

"Anna? Anna Peterson? Goodness, isn't she the one who talks so much, her teeth got tired and tried to bite her tongue off." she said while laughing.

"Yes, thats her. Infact this time, she talked a little too much and let slip a little piece of information," said Rose enjoying the nervous look on Armene's face.

"About how you fed Scorpius a little something that landed him in the hospital wing." she said, her face reddening in accordance with her temper, which was now in full gear.

Armene stared back at Rose quite defiantly, her sneer widening by the minute . "Prove it." she said quite plainly.

And when Rose didn't reply she added "Thats it Weasley. Hit a slight snag there, didn't you? You think I was stupid enough to do something that would leave behind any evidence and get caught in the process. Unfortunately, your friend Anna's word won't come in handy this time, as you won't find a trace of that potion anywhere in his body." she answered while smirking.

"You're right Armene, I couldn't get the teachers to punish you. But that doesn't mean I can't,"

Armene's reflexes were pretty good but they were no match for Rose's. Even before Armene could reach for her wand, Rose whipped out hers and aimed a perfectly positioned batbogey hex , right at her chest. As Armene lay on the floor, wincing in pain, being attacked by a hoard of her own bogies, with a couple of Gryffindors cheering on the side, Rose shouted for the whole corridor to listen.

"AND STAY AWAY FROM MY BOYFRIEND, YOU BITCH!" she yelled, and turned around to leave, with a couple of students patting her on her back, while some of the Slytherins scowled and immediately went to Armene's aid.

Rose walked away with her head held high, knowing fully well she would get paid by a thoroughly deserved detention, but she couldn't help but wear a triumphant smile on her face as she made her way to her common room. Anna was right, Aunt Ginny would be so proud, she thought, giggling.

* * *

**Author's Note: Liked it or not, please do tell me about it. :)**


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's note: Hi guys. This chapter,I'm sorry to say, will be the penultimate one. I hope you like this chapter.**

Once again thank you so much to all those who reviewed, you are brighter than sunshine:)

Disclaimer: The following story is not intended for profit. Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling.  


* * *

"Mr Zabini...Mr Zabini..." called out Madam Pomfrey, shaking the tall, muscular figure lumped in a chair by the side of Scorpius's bed.  
Neime, who had fallen asleep in his chair, woke up suddenly to see Madam Pomfrey looking at him, worriedly.

"Mr Zabini. I think you should go to bed now. It might be another few hours before your friend wakes up," she said warmly.

"No, its okay. I'd like to stay with him for a while," he replied weakly.

"Fine. But I can only let you stay for another hour, after which you'll have to leave," she said, sternly.

Neime gave a stiff nod, and Madam Pomfrey, after giving him a scrutinizing look, left for her office.

Neime rubbed his eyes and looked down at the pale-decrepit figure of his best friend. His stomach cringed, every time he recalled Madam Pomfrey's words. _He was lucky to have escaped. _Neime clenched his fists and wanted nothing more, than to rip the person who had done this to Scorpius, limb from limb.

"How long has he been sleeping?" asked a voice from behind, which made Neime snap out of his thoughts and jump a little. He turned around to see Anna Peterson standing in the doorway, looking concerned.

"Since I got here. Madam Pomfrey said she fed him a sleeping potion. He was having trouble sleeping, because of the pain," replied Neime, looking away from Anna and back at Scorpius.

"When did you get here?" she asked, conjuring a chair from near by and sitting down.

"Two hours ago," he replied while checking his watch.

For the next few minutes, neither of them said anything. They sat there in the infirmary, maintaining enough silence, to ensure Scorpius wouldn't be disturbed.

Anna couldn't help but notice, how devastated Neime looked. It seemed as though he had lost a considerable amount of weight and was lost deep in thought most of the time.

"I heard your boyfriend, Edward, got injured during the match. Is he alright?" asked Neime, as the silence between them got uncomfortable.

"Yeah he's fine," said Anna and Neime noticed that she seemed slightly somber as she said it.

"We broke up," she added, upon seeing Neime's expression.

"I'm sorry," he replied and Anna shook her head as if to say it was nothing.

Anna looked at her watch and said, "Its late. I guess I'll come back later, when he's awake."

She was about to get up from her seat when Neime said-

"Wait.What about...Rose? How is she doing?" he asked hesitantly.

Anna, who had half risen from her chair, sat back down and looked away from Neime.

"She is fine," she answered gloomily, looking down at Scorpius.

Silence crept in between them again and Anna realized there was no point in staying there any longer. But once again, as she made to get up, Neime spoke out,

"Its my fault. Its all my fault. If only I had stayed with him, I could have perhaps prevented this," sighed Neime, his voice almost breaking.

Anna, instead of sitting back down, went over and and sat on the bed, by Neime's side.

"Did you guys do everything together?" asked Anna in a serious tone.

Neime startled by this sudden questioning said -

"Well...Yeah. Sort of," he replied, not knowing what Anna meant by her question.

"Really? Are you telling me that when Scorpius went to take baths, you followed him to the bathroom," she asked, causing Neime to look at Anna as though she was mad.

"And that when you attended different classes, you missed your own, so that you could follow him around. If you did, well then I would have to presume that you were lovers," she finished, in a mocking tone.

Neime was lost for words as Anna finished. He had never been spoken to like this .Although he was slightly stunned at the way Anna presented it, he knew what she was aiming at.

Anna's expression softened a little as she continued-

"You couldn't possibly have done anything. Do you think the person who did this, would have been foolish enough to do this, with you hanging around? They would have managed to do this anyway. Probably, on one of those occasions when he was alone," she said condescendingly.

Neime looked at Anna and despite being annoyed by her boldness, felt slightly comforted by her words, considering what she said was true. He gave her a weak smile and bent forward in his chair.

"Rose is a very cynical person. She tends to see the worst in people. It takes a lot to impress her. And I've heard her say nothing but good things about you," she said softly.

"And as for him..." she said, nodding towards Scorpius. "I believe things happen for a reason. If this is what it takes, for two people who love each other, to realize what they mean to one another, then I'm glad he's lying here, like this," she finished, not daring to look at Neime.

"She came to see me yesterday. She told me of her decision. Sometimes, I feel like it was all my fault. If I hadn't stepped in between, none of this confusion would have arisen," he said desolately, burying his face in his hands.

"If you hadn't got in the way, Rose would never have realized, how much she liked Scorpius." she said sternly.

"Sometimes, it takes for us to lose something, to realize just how precious it really is. You played that part. Rose was planning on never telling him how she felt, for fear of their families. You made them both realize what they were missing. I would go as far as saying, you were the reason Rose and Scorpius got together," said Anna with a wide smile.

Neime was surprised at how comforting, the Gryffindor sounded. Every negative, guilty feeling, he had been carrying inside of him, which none of his friend's pithy comments could help him with, evaporated easily at her words.

Anna flashed another smile and bid goodbye, asking him to tell Scorpius that she had come to visit.

"And it would be better if you didn't tell him about Rose. I think its time they sorted things out by themselves," she added, before leaving the room.

* * *

"I've got your potions notes over here. I had to borrow some from Rene, coz she's the only one who seems to pay any attention in class and here are the Charms notes you asked for," said Neime pouring out parchments and notebooks from his bag.

"Gosh Neime. My headache is bad enough without all this," gulped Scorpius, wondering how he was going to make up for all the lost days.

"Well since you're gonna be in here for a while, I figured we could study together," said Neime, flipping through his potions textbook.

So far, both Neime and Scorpius had avoided straying near anything, that related to Rose. The closest they had come to talking about her, was when Neime mentioned Anna having come to visit him yesterday.

They sat there studying for a while and soon, it was time for Neime to leave. This prompted Scorpius to ask him about something.

"Did Anna say anything, when she came by yesterday?" asked Scorpius, treading a dangerous territory.

"No, nothing in particular," he replied and in order to revert back to a lighter mood, he added-

"No wait...She did say she had reason to believe we were lovers," he said, jesting.

Scorpius raised an eyebrow and upon realizing that Neime was joking, played along with it.

"She found out already? I thought we were doing a good job of covering it up." he remarked, winking.

"In your dreams, Malfoy!" said Neime, while Scorpius laughed out loud. Neime stood up to leave, relieved at having managed to dodge his earlier question about Anna.

"I'm off to have dinner. I'll see you tomorrow," he said picking up his bag.

"Wait. Aren't you going to give me a good night kiss?" asked Scorpius, playfully.

Neime replied with a rude hand gesture, while Scorpius kept laughing.

"Good night, Scorp," said Neime and as he was about to leave the room, Scorpius realized he couldn't hold it in anymore.

"Neime. Wait," he said, at which point Neime stopped and turned back to face Scorpius.

"What is it?" he asked, noticing the difference in Scorpius' tone.

"I told her. Right before I fainted. I told Rose everything," he said, looking down.

The air between them, which had been light and playful until a second ago, soon turned tense, which made Neime look nervous.

"But don't worry, Neime. I swear I won't come in the middle of your relationship. I just wanted her to know, even if she didn't feel the same way," he said, trying to sound apologetic.

"Did she tell you, she preferred me?" asked Neime, raising an eyebrow.

"No, I fainted before I could hear her reply. But there's no doubt she prefers you. I mean she hasn't even come to visit me yet. I must have freaked her out, pretty bad," said Scorpius, dolefully.

Neime didn't know how to respond and wondered whether he should end his best friend's misery and tell him the truth.

"But don't worry, I don't mind. You are my best mate and I'm really happy, that of all the people, its you," he said, trying to look cheerful.

"There is an old Muggle saying. Don't count your chickens, before they hatch," he said smiling and left the room, leaving Scorpius looking confused.

* * *

A whole month had passed since then, during which Scorpius had managed to somehow wade through all his exams. He had also recovered almost completely and could even walk on his own, no longer needing his crutches. But Rose had still not visited him, which extinguished even the tiniest hope he had been harboring, since hearing Neime's advice.

Before they knew it, it was time to board the Hogwarts Express again. He kept looking for Rose among the crowd. He wanted to assure her, that he was okay with her relationship with Neime, and that he wasn't going to stalk her , in case that was why she stayed away from him.

Just when Scorpius gave up looking for her, a bushy-brown haired girl materialized, right in front of him, taking him by surprise.

"Whoa..Rose..Didn't see you there..." he said, unable to speak coherently, being taken by surprise.

"Here, let me hold that for you," said Rose kindly, and despite Scorpius's protests, took his owl's cage from his hands. Scorpius was barely keeping it above the ground, due to the pain in his wrists, which hadn't fully subsided.

"How..how are you?" asked Rose, her voice barely audible, amidst the sounds of the boisterous children, all around them.

"I'm fine," he replied , wondering what he should say to her.

"I'm sorry, I didn't come visit. I just thought...it would have been awkward. Besides, Anna kept filling me in on how you were doing and..."

"Rose, I know I freaked you out," he burst out, before she could finish her sentence. "But I promise you once again, I will not interfere in your's and Neime's relationship. He's my best friend and I assure you, I'm nothing more than happy to see you two together."

Clang!! The cage dropped from her hands and in a split second, Rose plunged her arms around Scorpius's neck and planted a full kiss on his mouth. Scorpius was so taken aback by this gesture, that he couldn't get himself to respond. It was only when she drew back, still clinging onto his neck - with her face resting on his chest, that he came to his senses and hugged her back.

They stood there for what seemed liked ages, holding each other tightly - as if never willing to let go of one another, oblivious to all the stares and wolf whistles they were receiving. Scorpius meanwhile thought joyfully_ - Perhaps, not all my eggs had hatched after all,_ and held her even tighter in his arms.

* * *

**Authors' note: As you can see I have a drawn a parallel between Rose and Hermione once again.:) Thanks so much for reading. Hope you liked it. One more chapter to go. :)  
**


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's Note****: This chapter, which is the last one, is seriously high on cheese factor. So if you don't like it, please don't flame me.:) This was how I've always wanted to end it.**

** I'm sorry this took so long. But I was suffering from the worst case of writer's block ever. Thanks once again to all those who reviewed. I don't think I would have come out with this chapter this early, if it wasn't for your encouragement in terms of reviews. **

**Disclaimer:**** To be honest I'm glad I'm not JK Rowling. I'd rather not be famous.**

* * *

Scorpius felt words entering and leaving his ears, synchronously. None of which added up to reason or made sense. He was losing himself in the brown eyed witch standing in front of him, who was doling out explanations as to how they had landed themselves in their current predicament. He thought he'd heard the names Neime, Armene, and Anna a dozen times over and over again. 

He wasn't paying attention to a word Rose was saying and wouldn't have been able to do so, even if he tried. The only thing he managed to extract out of all the prattle, was that she felt the same way. She had always felt the same way. Then how did they manage to complicate things so far? How did he end up fighting with his best friend and land himself in a near death situation?The truth was that, Scorpius wasn't interested. All he knew and cared about, was that Rose loved him just as much as he loved her.

He was instead paying attention to her petite hands - as she used to describe certain events, her glistening, brown eyes -as they watered up, her rich, opulent lips - as she spoke animatedly, and her hair which was fluffier than ever, which Scorpius couldn't wait to ruffle his hands through. For a moment, he felt his breath being taken away as he took in her beauty. He couldn't wait till she finished blathering- to hold her tightly and never let go and to kiss her as though there was no tomorrow.

Rose, after what felt like hours, finished speaking. Her eyes were inundated by tears, which to her, was an insignia of her apology, for having caused him so much pain. Scorpius who seemed to understand this, took his hands and gently wiped away those tears, as a sign of forgiveness.

"You know what Rose. I didn't pay attention, to a bloody word you just said," he said, smiling widely.

Rose, despite her tears, couldn't help herself from chortling. "I thought so," she replied with a smile.

Scorpius smiled warmly and kissed her forehead. He then took her into his arms and hugged her tightly. They were on a public platform and were surrounded by hundreds of students waiting to board the train, half of them checking the cuddled up pair in front of them. But to Scorpius and Rose, it seemed like a deserted island and no one could come in between them again, not even Armene Parkinson who looked as though she had been force fed a bogey flavored Every Flavor beans, as she watched the couple hugging.

* * *

Neime was standing with his hands in his pockets and and looking over at the pair, from afar. His expression was mellow, devoid of guilt and fully content at seeing the two people in front of him, finally happy. But if someone had looked closer, they would have noticed a tinge of disappointment, amidst all the cheerfulness. 

"They do make a really cute couple, don't they?" asked a voice from behind, and Neime, without turning back, recognized it as the voice of Anna Peterson, who was peering at her best friend as well.

Neime nodded automatically in reply and watched Rose and Scorpius step inside the train.

"You know what you should have done though?" she asked, turning to face him.

"What?" asked Neime, smiling and expecting some whacky, yet well reasoned answer from the Gryffindor.

"You should have put her on a plane and sent her off to Lisbon, and walked off into the sunset with Scorpius," she said as she made her way towards the train

"Its from an old Muggle movie," added Anna, wondering whether he got the joke.

"I know. Casablanca right? I love that movie," he said, smiling, as he followed her into the train..

Neime upon seeing the raised eyebrow on Anna's face soon added

"But if you mention that to anyone, I swear I'll use the bat bogey hex on you. Mind you, Rose has given me a few pointers." he shot warningly.

"Neime Zabini. The Slytherin, Quidditch playing hunk, love a sappy Muggle romance flick. Yeah, like anyone would believe me," she said teasingly.

Neime chuckled, as he got into a compartment with her.

"I was all for it though. But Scorpius wasn't interested." he said, as he sat down opposite her.

"If it helps, I was routing for you and Scorpius to get together." she said playfully.

Neime was surprised she could make him laugh so easily, especially since he hadn't fully recovered from the guilt, that had been eating away inside of him. As a result he was somber most of the time.

"Rose talks a lot about you, you know," he said once the laughter subsided.

"Yeah. And I know more about Scorpius than he knows about himself. I could write a book on him, if someone asked me to," she said, while taking out a book to read.

Anna was too busy ogling at a pair of seventh years who were standing on the paltform, glued at the lips, to notice Neime staring at her intently.

"I guess we'll have to get used to our best friends snogging each other in our presence, from now on." she remarked wearily, as she turned her attention back to her book

"Maybe, we can make it less awkward by going on a date ourselves," he replied nonchalantly, as though he hadn't said anything important.

Anna twisted her head around so fast, that one could hear her bones snapping. She raised her eyebrows curiously and asked-

"Did you just ask me out?", in awe of the nerve of the Slytherin sitting in front of her.

"Yes. I believe I did," he replied smiling wickedly, before continuing, "I live just blocks away from you. We could go out for a Muggle movie next weekend, if you'd want to," he said confidently, flashing his famous smile, which was said to have won a thousand hearts.

It was usually Anna who would cause others to be stumped for words, with her quick wit and sarcastic taunts. But this time, she was the one who was lost for words, so much so, that she had to wait a full minute before responding.

"Sure. I'd love to," she said finally, looking back at the dark skinned boy and flushing despite herself.

The whistle of the train, interrupted the snogging couple outside and prompted the remaining flock of students to leap into the bogeys.

The train started galloping at a small pace and after a while gathered full speed, as Hogwarts bid goodbye to the students and awaited their return till the next year. The rays of sunlight slogged through their windows as Neime and Anna chatted enthusiastically, wondering what their seventh year was going to bring for them and their best friends.

As Anna and Neime slowly settled in to the atmosphere around them, Neime added-

"Anna, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship," the bustle of the train, swallowing the laughter, that followed.

* * *

A year had passed since the train had left Hogwarts, with two new couples amongst others, on board. The four of them were relaxing one afternoon, under a tree by the lake. Neime was resting his head on Anna's lap, as she read a brochure on certain Ministry jobs, while Scorpius and Rose were chatting on the other side with Rose looking more worried than usual. 

"Its alright Rose," said Scorpius reassuringly. "I'm more worried about telling your father. Its always the girl's father, who's tough to impress," he said, now looking equally worried.

Neime and Anna looked at each other and smiled, being grateful for the fact that they didn't have to deal with the problem, their best friends were facing.

"Stop smirking, you git." retorted Scorpius playfully, as he saw Neime smiling.

"Hey don't blame us for not having any hassles in our relationship," responded Neime laughing and taking a jibe at his best friend.

"Don't worry Scorpius. Rose's Dad will make a fuss initially, but eventually he'll accept you," said Anna reassuringly.

Neime looked at his watch and upon seeing the time, called out to his friend-

"C'mon Scorp. Quidditch practice," Neime said, as he lifted his head from Anna's lap.

Both the boys kissed their respective partners and headed for the grounds.

Anna, after watching Neime walk by said to Rose-

"Its alright Rose. He's eighteen. You both are. Anyway, I'm inclined to believe his parents will be a little less hostile towards you, especially since you saved his life, last year," said Anna as she rested her head back on the tree.

Rose didn't reply, but instead went over and sat by Anna's side, looking over at the girls laughing by the lake.

"You know, I'm surprised at how you managed to get Neime in a relationship with you. He must really love you. He has never been with a girl, longer than a month. A feat not even I could achieve. I lasted a week, remember?" said Rose slinking her head towards Anna.

"Some times I wonder how I did it, myself." sighed Anna and added. "Did you know that we are currently considered the luckiest girls here, having managed to bag two of the most hottest boys at Hogwarts?" she remarked, laughing hysterically.

"How did we do that?" asked Rose in amazement, as the two best friends laughed at their own words, in the backdrop of the lake, which smiled serenely at their innocence and in that moment, Rose forgot all about the hurdles, that lay ahead of her and Scorpius.

* * *

The train whistled, as the students got down and the graduates looked longingly back at the express, that they would never board again. But Rose's and Scorpius's attention was drawn towards the two pairs of families, that were standing on the opposite sides of the train. Scorpius took one look at the two families and realized that it was urgent to speak to Rose's father first. The issues with his family went much deeper, which couldn't be resolved on a railway platform. 

Scorpius took Rose by her hand and dragged her along with him until they stood face to face with her father. Ronald Weasley, quite shocked to see his daughter holding hands with his enemy's son, couldn't even manage himself to ask his daughter, how she was doing. Instead it was Scorpius who spoke first.

"Sir. I would like to let you know, that I am dating your daughter. And I hope, you will not object to it," he said confidently, while Ron's jaw dropped.

Rose felt her entire body tremble, since she hadn't expected Scorpius to commit this ludicrous act of asking her father's permission, on a railway platform.

Ron looked extremely incredulous and looked over at Malfoy who hadn't yet spotted his son.

"You are Draco Malfoy's son?" asked Ron roughly, which made Scorpius gulp.

"Yes. I am," he answered, nervously.

Before Ron could ask another question though, Scorpius added-

"Mr Weasley. I'm nothing like my father, if thats what you expect of me. I'm madly in love with your daughter. She's the only person, I can see myself spending an entire life with. I know that you, of all people, can understand that, because you found your soul mate around the same age," he finished, nodding at Hermione, who mean while was talking to Hugo and hadn't witnessed this little conversation.

Ron automatically looked over at his wife and his lips curled into the tiniest of smiles. But the smile was soon replaced with a stern, admonitory look, as he turned back to face Scorpius.

"Fine. But if you hurt my Rosie in anyway..."

"Unless I'm on an imperious curse, I won't harm her in any manner whatsoever. You can rest assured of that, Sir." he completed the sentence.

Ron who scrutinized him for a while, finally nodded his approval and asked Rose to hurry up. Once her father left them, she hugged Scorpius delightedly. But upon looking over his shoulder, her expression turned into a frown, as she spotted Draco Malfoy, who's face was embellished with shock and anger. Rose looked at Scorpius worriedly and he seemed to understand, what she was trying to tell him.

"Its going to be tough. But if I'll have to fight my entire family for you, I'll do it. The worst they can do is disown me. I don't care. Just promise me, you'll always be my side," said Scorpius, as Rose's brown eyes, welled up with tears.

Rose nodded as Scorpius planted a kiss on her forehead. They only let each other go when Rose heard her father call her name once again.

They parted amidst all the commotion around them, drifting towards the opposite sides of the train, having to face a future with a lot of struggles. But the one thing, that gave them the strength to face this uncertain future, was that there was someone on the other side who loved them, a love that triumphed every trick- fate played on them, _**a love that survived - despite so much that was left unsaid.**_

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**Author's note: If you used to read the author note's, you would have known that this was originally intended as a one shot. Which extended to two, then three and later twelve whole chapters. And it was all because of the lovely encouraging reviews that I received, so give yourselves a toast.:)**

**It feels really sad to wrap this up, coz I loved how this story progressed and hope you felt the same way. Most of the time I felt like the characters were playing out themselves. Anyway I'd like to take a feather out of author hanelli's book (who by the way has written a totally awesome Rose/Scorp fic, go check it out) and request everyone to keep this ship alive. Lets hope JK Rowling decides to include this ship when she writes that eighth book..lol..**

**Thanks so much to all my readers, who stuck with this till the end. Hope this last chapter didn't disappoint you. Leaving a review would make me really really happy.  
**


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